The real heartbeat
by Porcelain.Memories
Summary: HE is the irresistible VAMPIRE Prince who rebels against the sacred rules of the immortals. SHE views SUICIDE as the ultimate liberation. On a faithful night, they meet. And he comes with an alternative choice in lieu of death: in exchange for her blood, he pledges to fulfill her dearest wish: "Teach me...how to feel alive." She asks for the impossible, but love is unpredictable.
1. A ride on the Red Velvet Carousel

**Chapter I: A ride on the** _Red Velvet_ **Carousel.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **'In the limbs of the night, I heard your voice beckoning me to stay,**

 **And darkness has never been more entrapping.**

 **I wish we could dance under the scarlet veil of the moon forever,**

 **Because you decided to walk by my side.'**

 **While life is seeping from my veins, I am seeking for eternity.**

 **My heart will never be afraid to live forever, loving you, holding you, weep for you, bleed for you.**

 **Please, save me.'**

.

.

.

* * *

He was swaying like a fragile fallen leaf carried away by the wind, tripping on his own feet, as his uncharacteristic lack of coordination was making his clumsy ungraceful steps seem like a maze of maladroitness, which was in total opposition with his usual refinement, elegance and inborn sophistication.

The streets were void of any breath and mild silent, save for the eerie tunes echoing through the velvet starry night coming from the scouting owls and the supremacy of darkness was the sole hushed witness of his physical and spiritual torment.

His steps were mechanical, instinctual, dragging his imposing elegant silhouette through the deserted poor illuminated streets, as small rivulets of perspiration were rolling down his polished marble soft skin, shimmering like diamonds.

Every breath was making his chest burn like a torch sending his lungs into a desperate call for oxygen, yet his thin lips were parted and his inhales were unruly and messy, just like the rapid pumps of his heart. His throat was dry, rough and sore, the sensation akin to one courageous helpless traveller of the infinite merciless desert, in search for his oasis of salvation, making it challenging for him to swallow.

Hh could hear his escalading pulse pound inside his eardrums, along with a low pitched tune, ramming at his skull. His damp sweaty temples were throbbing and clenching and his vision was glassy and doubled, even though it was tremendously accurate.

In all honesty, he has never felt so weak and assailable in decades, despite the rather normal innate needs of his body, but the attacks and craving have grown in number by the last six months.

A quivering hand fisted into his silk navy fine shirt, above the nest of his heart, tugging at the glossy material like he wanted to tore his chest open and make the pain leave his body along with that useless timid organ, which kept on pumping the quintessence of immortality through his going limp body.

Slowly, almost annoyingly sluggish, he carried his listless shadow along the street, having a feeble grip on the railing of the long high bridge that he was trying to cross, feeling the cold metal sting his warm palm like an icicle as he used it for support, praying he wouldn't fall down on his knees.

Bottomless languid black sapphire orbs traveled from the heavy grey concrete street up to the infinite inviting twinkling night sky, setting on the beaming full round stunning pale moon, mirroring the subtle glint of silver flickering around his onyx irises, which resembled its faint halo, as the orb of night was taunting his decrepitude.

A faint ghost of a smirk bloomed at the corner of his mouth, as he let the ivory gleam penetrate his mind, while his steps halt. Honestly, he wasn't sure if he could make it to his home and indulge in the sweet solitude of his chamber in that state.

 _Uchiha Sasuke_ was the youngest of the two sons and the undeniable terrific heir of the honored prominent _Uchiha_ clan, the absolute _ruler of the_ _Vampires_. Among the other noble, clans and families of vampires, with a long, tumultuous and glorious history, they were the finest, the strongest and the recognized heads among them.

Uchiha Fugaku, his father, was the current terrible leader and his supremacy was both respected and feared by the vampires all over the world, but his sharp intuition, sparkling intelligence, and the 1050 years he was proudly carrying on his broad shoulders gave him a vast life experience, having seem, tasted, sensed, felt and survived of many things through the decades.

He witnessed the swings of the contemporary society, he went through the most important historical events, he saw leaders bow their heads, he saw vehement hands maneuvering the strings of politics with a flawless tact and wisdom, he witnessed the glory of the once most powerful empires and he met the most brilliant minds of elegant philosophers and famous rulers. His reputation spread like a spider's net among his companions, the wielders of the immortality and the mysteries of the night, as he earned their recognition, respect and the legitimacy to be the central authority of decision.

From the very legendary _Uchiha Madara_ , who was the one who unified the Uchihas into a strong prolific cultivated clan, as the wealth and adulation came in time, as his name would only be whispered and hushed. After his sudden shocking disappearance, Fugaku took over and polished the face of the Uchiha clan into the face it had in modern times.

His two sons on the other hand, seemed to have been overwhelmed by the contemporary hectic tumultuous times they were living, being absorbed into the temptations of the mortals` desires, not being too interested in taking over the family, claim the crown of the supreme ruler and be the silent mediator between the world of humans and immortals of the night.

 _Itachi_ grew alienated of his family, rejected his father`s stern commend to take over the family and be the next rightful heir, nurturing an unusual passion for a simple exquisite mortal, with vivid candid eyes, and hair in the color of the lilac, Konan, taking the proof of his defiance over the Vampire`s strict ancient code to the ultimate level, by getting engaged to her, stepping on his family`s pride.

He had Fugaku`s eternal hate for his arrogance, so naturally his attention turned to his youngest son, Sasuke, who in response to his forced by the circumstances kindness, promptly showed him his indifference and back, moving from the home he has grown up in and choosing to live alone and blend with the mortals, along with his all times number one hyperactive obnoxious dumb best friend since the beginning of time, Uzumaki Naruto.

The very same honey kissed haired eternally smiling man who dragged his lackluster ass to that damn wild party, even if Sasuke simply told him to promptly go fuck himself, because he was not in the mood to seek human contact, or any contact for the matter, but of course Naruto would never take a _no_ for an answer, and it wasn't because of the fact that his motto was to never give up, but simply because his dumb head was not able to process simple requests.

Sasuke loathed that character with the same burning passion that was scorching his lifeless body from the pits of his chest and head.

But all his thoughts about anyone, or everything were whipped away off his memory when his pearl black hues caught the sight of the dainty silhouette, on the peak of the arched bridge, facing the luscious glassy water.

And the vision of her numbed away his pain.

* * *

 _._

 _._

 _._

* * *

 _Sakura_ has never been happy, nor did she ever have the privilege of learning about the gentlest of emotions from any special close to her person, simply because no one ever truly cared for her, or her well-being. To the world, she was just another inexistent plain face in the crowd. Among the many other stories colliding with her own whenever she wandered through the foreigners, she only found alienation, disdain and closed doors.

As soon as her mother gave birth to her, the cruel woman who Sakura didn't have the chance to see the face of, has abandoned her in the hospital, leaving without a trace in the next few hours, disappearing without a single word or a message and the only thing that left behind, was the fragile baby`s name, _Haruno_ Sakura.

After many close investigations, a distant aunt of hers has appeared to the Prosecutor`s office, with a bored rude expression on her wrinkled face and demanded to be given the child, hoping that she would get an amount of money from the Government for raising her, which happened.

That woman, Mebuki, who was married to an alcoholic abusive husband, never had children and that only led to an amassed frustration accumulated into her always frowning large forehead and it was exactly the eternal repulsive and frightening look that she gave Sakura.

And her husband Kizashi Haruno was even worse. He was working as a fisherman who barely managed to sell enough fishes to the local market to ensure his family`s well-being. They lived together in the ghettos, surrounded by many creeps with similar unfortunate stories, or people that life has been harsh and unfair with, struggling in poverty, all adding to the eerie picture and desolate atmosphere that crayoned her past childhood days.

It was a habitual ritual for Kizashi to spend most of his money on drinking with his friends, coming back home at dawn, reeking of alcohol and venting out on whoever was crossing paths with him first, be it the little defenseless Sakura or his own wife.

Sakura has long lost the count of the days when she had to endure the pain of being food deprived, the malnutrition and the effects on her young body which needed nutrients to fully and healthy develop, all ending up almost similarly with Kizashi kicking her in the stomach or whipping her fragile small back with his thick belt, ignoring her whimpers and cries, until he grew tired or was knocked down by the drunkenness.

Mebuki used to defend her up to a point, always screaming and scolding her husband for losing the money she got for taking Sakura into custody, if he somehow killed her, which was probably the only reason why she was still alive.

By the age of 21, instead of being a proud young girl touched by the blessing of the womanhood, stepping proudly and having the untouchable confidence and the age`s hope and aspirations radiance, with a bright successfully future and a secure path to follow, Sakura was a decaying rotten soul, with a crushed heart and no gleam of desire or ambition awaiting at the end of the rainbow.

She had no background, no family to love her, no lover, no friends to be concerned for her or offer a shoulder to cry on and the only drive that made her fight for staying alive that long was the foolish stupid feeling of beatitude that the delusion of someday finding a purpose of her existence was nourishing her mind.

But after so much time of fighting and walking alone, the girl with the essence of spring`s bloom of nature encrusted within her emerald unique orbs. has grew sick and tired of being a victim of the system, of the society and destiny. In a dance where she was only accompanied by her equally sad grieving shadow, the waltz has turned into a waterfall of her infinite solitude.

So that was why, after so many days of getting to convince herself that there was indeed not a single living out there who would mourn in front of her modest funeral stone, or touch her cold grave with a red rose or a tear of remembering, she got the courage she lacked for coming into terms with her beliefs of it being the supreme sin _to end up her own life_ , which has been given to her by the divinity, and leave the world which has only tortured her for so long.

She deserved that. It was the final thought which has led her dazed steps towards the bridge where she was staying still, as the statue of a virgin maiden at the altar, dully following the unusual pallor of the moon`s reflection on the shimmering starlight over the crystal water of the river flowing under her feet.

They always say that everything in life has a remedy, but what she lacked was a _purpose to live_. What was the use to live when there was no one to acknowledge her or to hold her tenderly and dearly? If she would be better off indulging in the sweet eternal slumber and let  death carry her down the Styx river, all the way to the realm of the lost ones, then at least she would be one less half dead person to wander down the streets aimlessly.

"Forgive me…. _God_." She breathed to the open sky, following the silhouette of a shooting star, lazily letting her dull eyes fall on the bottomless abyss of death enfolding under her feet as she was leaning forward, gazing into the inviting water, trying to imagine the sensation she would get in the moment of impact, pressing her chest on the white railing, as she was gripping the edge with both her slender hands.

Her erratic heart was pounding madly down her chest, clenching and tearing her in half, making her feel like a caged nightingale fluttering her wings, trying to get free, without success. She was still scared, but she saw no other viable path to take.

So before she had a swing of her mind and chose a more unfortunate for her option, cowering in the last moment, Sakura raised her left leg over the railing, carefully lifting her petite frame up, sliding on the other side of the safety, bringing the other limb beside the other, feeling the cold bars in her lower back, as her hands were the only leverage she had, keeping her among the world of livings.

A pleasant flower scented warm ocean breeze was playing into her untied long velvet hair and long loose white cotton skirt, making the ample folds flutter and brush over her slim ankles. What a superb night to commit suicide, Sakura thought humorlessly as a short _'heh'_ escaped her mouth.

She was prepared for it, in fact, she has carefully planned that day because it was the supreme mockery and the only moment when Sakura allowed herself to turn the tables on and laugh into the fate`s face: it was her _birthday_ and she was determined to wipe off her memory from that world in the same day when all the suffering has begun, namely the day when she was born.

Her soft eyelids gleamed with a fine line of salty tears, as she has slowly let her long curled eyelashes fell above her glassy eyes ,imprinting the mesmerizing scenery of the glowing red and golden city lights in the distance down her mind, inhaling sharply once. And she smiled. That was the last thing she would take with her, before she died.

The clear tune of her pounding heartbeat screaming at her to cling to the life, a delicate caress of the salty wind brushing over her rosy cheeks, the swift flutter of the owls` wings and the energetically sound of the never sleeping crowded city, were all started to fade away, while she slowly detached her slim fingers from the railing, one by one.

There was a dainty cold drop of sweat rolling down her neck, passing the ample valley of her rounded breasts, while her bare forearms covered in cold shivers, making her spine shudder and she grew dizzy. Deep down inside, she didn't want to do that, yet when both her palms spread opened, sliding from the railing, while her body has been hauled down by the gravity, Sakura swore she has never felt so _liberated_.

And when her bare curled over the narrow edge of the bridge toes disjoined with the scraping concrete surface, the most uplifting feeling akin to Nirvana has wrapped around her opened straight limbs and…

…she _jumped_.

' _Even if I will never get wings, I am finally free.'_

" _Are you out of your mind?"_

Or not.

A rich low alto bass voice, as smooth as velvet under her fingertips and as sensual as dark chocolate has made her orbs flutter open in confusion, while a sturdy firm, yet remarkably gentle grip around her right wrist have made her body jerk, fighting off the laws of physics and she has quickly come to realize that somehow, the outcome she was expecting has never come.

A quick tug of her entrapped wrist has made her slim frame whirl around and she has been brought face to face to the one who seemed to be her unexpected rescuer, and Sakura swore that her erratic heart flapped its peace from pounding like a bass drum, alerting her over the really wrong decision that she has taken, from a complete frozen in shock state.

Vivid widened forest green orbs collided with polished smoldering onyx ones, and all the words and whispers remained trapped on her parted lips at the astonishing savage intensity of the owner`s stare. "What`s the use of doing something so stupid?" She blinked thrice just as to make her scattered thoughts come back to her fogged mind and help her assess the situation.

For a moment, Sakura wasn't sure whether she indeed jumped off the bridge and the supreme Angel of Darkness has come to swallow her soul and lead her to the other side of the veil, because that person who seemed to have stopped her from jumping off the bridge was out of that world.

"W-Who…" her soft hum was almost inaudible, yet his keen hearing sense was way beyond human perception. "…are _you_?" Whoever that stranger in front of her was, was by far the most gorgeous man she has ever cast her eyes on.

Involuntarily, her emerald orbs traveled along the sharp, yet incredible elegant and refine angles and lines of his strong masculine jaw line and firm chin, following every astonishing detail of his exquisite beauty, and his high regal nose and lean check bones were crayoning a famous portrait of a royalty.

His finely cut eyebrows were slightly furrowed, accentuating the penetrating energy of his breathtaking flickering black sapphire almond shaped big eyes and his long thick equally raven eyelashes were framing them like a fine spider`s net, pinning her down with that simple look he gave her.

If she was to look attentively, there were silvery flickering fine dots around his irises, similar to white pearls sewed on black lace in the most out of ordinary mixture of colors, yet their beauty was knocking the wind out of her lungs.

Probably the most peculiar uncommon trait of his physiognomy was the silk looking luscious ebony spiky rich hair, perking up in every possible direction, giving him a rebel, yet studied and irresistible appearance. Some longer locks were gracefully falling on his temples and forehead, while the gentle wind was blowing through his hair, making them brush over his jaw and long slender neck.

The vibrant shade of intense black was crushing with the marble pale shade of his complexion, and it seemed to be highlighted by the enchanting moonlight, which was glowing over his face and for a moment, Sakura sensed something untouchable about that incredibly handsome man, but she couldn't define the sudden surge of intuition.

"You are a fool." He simply told her, as his tune was following the same even calm seductive velvet touch, which sent pleasurable shivers down her spine and she almost not processed the way he nonchalantly insulted her for her attempt to take away her life. "Come. This is dangerous."

Sakura quickly assessed their positions and she realized that the drop dead gorgeous stranger has actually climbed the railing in order to catch her hand on time, in the moment she has let go of the railing. "N-No…no!"

His left hand was wrapped on it, while his right one was keeping her own captive, while his broad chiseled chest was grazing her own and the raw hotness of his hard rock body was radiating through her every pore. And a sense of panicky has shot through her, making her trash her body and yank her hand from his vice grip. "L-Let me go!"

Sakura found her voice again, shouting tat him, but Sasuke hasn't even flinched. Little did she knew that he wasn't at his top shape and in fact, he was carrying on an impossible battle with his growing limp and numb body, to maintain his balance and the grip he had on the railing, preventing both of them from falling into the river.

"Stop it." He bid her, yet his commanding voice wasn't rude or harsh. If anything, he didn't want to scare the girl, who was probably in a very fragile and delicate state of mind if she was willing to retort to such insane measures. "If I let you go, you are going to fall." He tried to reason, yet Sasuke was all aware of the fact that it was probably her purpose.

The onyx eyed Uchiha was almost a hundred percent certain that she was not there to admire the scenery, or to try and bungee-jump with an invisible rope.

"This is exactly what I _want_ , can't you see?!" Sakura brought her free palm to rest on Sasuke`s chest, unconsciously scooping closer to his heart, applying a rather weak pressure, trying to push him back, while her right hand was trying to break free from his long digits wrapped around her wrist.

There was something off about that girl yet Sasuke couldn't quite put his hand on it, nor did he have time to dwell on her resolve to desire such a thing, simply because his every pore was screaming in agony, his tensed lean bulky muscles were throbbing and pulsating and he was losing the strength of his grip.

And the trashing and tossing girl wasn't making it all the easier for both of them, so he summoned his very last remain of power and let go of the hold he had on the railing, making good use of his vampire powers to keep his feet firm on the edge, even if they were slightly angled and he was then left to fight the gravity alone, wrapping his left hand around the girl`s petite curvy waist, bringing her flush into his iron steel hard body, managing to tame her frenetic attempts to escape down, ever so little. "Get a hold of yourself. This is never an option."

Startled by the sudden full contact with the tall mysterious raven haired classy man, Sakura felt her maddened heart hitch down her throat, where a large lump was preventing her from breathing and her pulse has sky rocketed, as a result of her body`s unexpected reaction to his closeness. "Who are you to tell me such things?! You have no right to stop me. If I want to die, then I am free to do so!"

Of course she was right and Sasuke wouldn't be a fool to try and prove her otherwise, because it was her life to do as she pleased, even if she chose to end it in such a cruel and rather foolish way, yet his body reacted before his mind had the chance to process what he wanted to do and he didn't have time to think, before he found himself lunge forward, jump off the railing, at the speed of light, darting his hand towards her own slim one.

"True. But not tonight, because I will _not_ allow you to jump." The reason why Sasuke was trying to coax the odd girl with the most mesmerizing hair color he has ever seen, to follow his advice and cease away the stupid thoughts of suicide, was a mystery to him, yet there he was, barely keeping their bodies standing on the lip of a bridge`s edge, fighting with her stubbornness. "Tonight, you will live."

For a moment, there were some alien feelings blooming deep inside her heart and there was an odd fluttering in the pits of her stomach, like a multitude of gentle ladybirds nesting inside her belly, making her queasy and shaky at the sound of the words that were slipping past the beautiful onyx eyed stranger`s sumptuous appetizing looking thin firm lips and they were starting to make her resolve crumble.

Never in her life has someone cared about her or what she did, and somehow that stranger has managed to bring to light emotions that Sakura has never knew she had trapped inside her heart and even if he was rather possessive, with a bit of smug hint of dominance, she found herself not entirely annoyed by his approach, because it was unusual to hear anyone caring about whatever would happened to her, if it wasn't for materialistic purposes.

But he was a stranger, who didn't know her yet he risked his own life to come and stop her, even if they have never met before. And she doubted that he was some kind of closet pervert who stalked her with unholy thoughts.

If anything, the ebony haired man could have probably any woman in the world drooling at his feet, with a mere snap of his fingers if his desires were such. Not only did he look like cut from a famous fashion magazine, but his aura, his superior demeanor, the aura of superiority he was oozing and the neat fashionable clothes he wore were definitely branded, sending the clear message that money were not a problem to him.

"No…you don't understand..." Sakura was aware that her shivering voice started to break, yet she was becoming erratic. She didn't know what to do, because it was just obvious that she couldn't fight off a young vigorous male who was at least one head taller and visibly toned and fit, so her only weapons were words. "…I _don't_ want to live anymore….there is no use to do so. Please, let go of me, I don't want to suffer anymore. This pain…" Emerald eyes were glossy and shimmering with delicate drops of salty crystalline tears gleaming on the corner of her forest green orbs as she spoke the truth.

If that stranger was so eager to rescue her from the limbs of imminent death, then he was at least entitled to get an explanation. If anything, Sakura didn't want him to think she was a lunatic or a crazy woman, who was suffering from a broken heart. "…enough is enough already." Images of her foster family abusing her, depriving her of food, electricity, warm water or the coziness of a loving family and the warmth of a home started to play within her mind and her whole body started to shiver.

"I want it to go away already. This is my only chance." Her jade candid crying orbs were seeking for his ink onyx ones, imploring him with all her fiber and remaining ghost of sanity to turn away and pretend they never had a brief encounter. "Please, Sir, if you have any heart, then don't make me go back."

Sasuke was silent letting her speak and explain the reason why she chose to retort to such dramatic measures. If anything, his long existence has allowed him to witness thousands of similar situations. Sakura was definitely not the first person he has seen committing suicide, even if he would admit that she has been the most poetic one, in both behavior and determination –she was ready to send her soul into nothingness with a smile playing over her full lips. "Why? Why do you say that?"

Something inside his cold heart has flipped and stirred when he saw those tears of hers, streaming down her small cheeks, like the purest dew drops in a summer morning, as her bell like soft voice was losing intensity and she was as almost blending with the soft wind blow. "Because there is _nothing_ there left for me if I do that."

"Then you are unlucky because I do _not_ have a heart. You will not die. Not if I am here to stop you." Sasuke was desperately looking for a logical reason why he was so adamant in not allowing that girl to kill herself, because if he didn't do so, the he would admit that there was something MORE intriguing him when it came to the strange girl, beside her stubbornness.

Maybe because her dazzling fragility and gleaming innocence was knocking at the doors of the last remain of his morals and humanity –which he thought to having get rid of the moment he unclad from the veil of mortality and embraced eternal darkness- knowing all too well that, whenever someone was in the verge of meeting a tragically death, with the potential of not ever being found, hundreds of other vampires, were lurking from the shadows, being thirsty for blood and craving for fresh human meat, expecting to satiate from her body, the moment she would die.

And the disgusting image of a barbarous libidinous half-breed pathetic lowlife vampire ravaging her, was too revolting for Sasuke to stay beside and let them have their way with her. He wasn't oblivious. There were vampires all over the place, blending into the crowd, attacking, not being able to fully control their hunger and needs, choosing to rebel against the orders and attack humans at random.

It was no coincidence that _Konoha_ was hitting on the top ten most dangerous cities around the globe to live in, by the unusually high rate of dreadfully deaths and the number was growing alarmingly. His all too observant intelligent onyx orbs and high alert senses caught the pungent scent of his vampire companions staying concealed into the veil of night, waiting for the oblivious lamb to jump of the bridge and die, before they would denigrate her memory.

Usually, the most common acts were swaying between taking turns in raping their victims, sucking their blood up to the last drop, then eating their flesh, like a clan of starving hyenas until they left the cadaver unrecognizable. Somehow, that image which would normally leave him impassive, was not suited for her.

It was something that Sasuke couldn't accept and if it was out of a whim, he didn't care. But they won't lay a single finger on those emerald eyes. Especially not if they spotted her in _his_ company. Like Hell was any other vampire there, irresponsible and stupid enough to provoke one of the Uchiha heirs to a fight, despite their unmatched arrogance and delusion of being strong, having the false impression of being shielded by the immortality, hence being intangible.

With a single flicker of his eyes, Sasuke could smash them all and whip them off the surface of the Earth, without breaking a sweat. It was rather laughable and ironical, with a hint of a dark humor in it, the fact that she was safe as long as she was with him, but it was the undeniable fact.

"Every day, every single moment of my life is a constant suffering. I am tired to fight and I lost the willpower to do so. There is nothing more than I have ever desire than to die. Don't take this away from me, I already have nothing in this life." Sakura made him snap out of his firm –and self-centered manly satisfaction- resolve, with her weak depressing confession and he slightly furrowed his eyebrows upon hearing what could come out of that girl`s mouth, making him intrigued about what the hell could have happened to her, to make such a young spirit think like a ninety years old hag with a terminal disease.

"I know nothing about you, but whatever problems you might have it cannot be worth the price to exchange your life for death. You do realize that this," The ebony haired handsome Uchiha cocked his head towards the river floating under their feet, making Sakura`s orbs shift from his face, to the occasional small rolling foamy waves, coming from the sailing riverboats and yachts. "is a one way road, right?"

She bit her lower lip, nibbling on it, nodding reluctantly once, agreeing with him. He was wise, that stranger man with his mesmerizing unique onyx eyes, she admitted. And somehow, she wasn't feeling threatened by him, even if the strange sensation of him being more than just a gorgeous looking young man was ramming at her skull, but she chose to ignore it. She didn't care about what happened to her anymore. "I-I know."

"You say that there is nothing left for you in this life, but…" Sasuke made a short pause like he was pondering whether he should tell her or simply let the subject drop, deciding to share that bit of information with the girl, since her resolve seemed like hard to crush. If anything, she had solid principles, even if they were all leading to fatality.

"…there is nothing on the _other side_ either. If you jump into that water, you will become nothing. Can you understand what it means? Can you imagine your existence being nullified and turned into nihility, like you have never existed?"

Sasuke knew it all too well, since the complex and rather difficult to grasp process of obtaining immortality automatically involved the concept of negating existence, hence giving up mortality by dying once, was one way to become a vampire. It wasn't his case, but he had such acquaintances, like his self-proclaimed best friend, Naruto, who hasn't been born a pure blood vampire, like Sasuke.

And somehow, he pitied the girl for her credulity. Feeling pain was still more than feeling nothing at all and being turned into a void, yet that was kind of impossible to explain to a mortal. "If this is going to make the pain go away…than yes. I already feel void and lifeless. My heart is only an amalgamation of emptiness, sadness, aggrieve and solitude. How can I lose anything since I never had anything to begin with?"

"Can we continue our philosophic conversation about the meaning of life and the existence of the afterlife, on the other side of this damn railing, before something stupid happens?" Sasuke tried, thinking that the emerald eyed girl with the tendencies for self-harm has caught the message.

But he has severely underestimated her, or he has been fooled by her sudden small ghost of a smile playing upon her lips, when she hummed to him. "I am sorry…I have already made up my mind, and if you are being stubborn and try to stop me, than I will not be held responsible for what is going to happen to you."

* * *

"Hey, wait a sec-" Before Sasuke had the chance to read through her moves and be two steps ahead of her, Sakura has shut her eyes once again and leaned backwards, dragging him along, making them both fall from the bridge and the first thing that crossed Sasuke`s spinning wheels down his brain was a vicious curse. "Fuck."

He couldn't believe that Sakura has actually had the power to make him fall as well, but then he realized that while he was racking his mind for coming up with a plausible excuse for his unusual behavior and the proper words to convince the girl to give up the idea of committing suicide, his last remain of strength has been washed away off his system and he was weaker than he thoughts.

In fact, normally he would have been in the verge of fainting, fighting to keep his consciousness, yet it was crystal clear that he couldn't quite do that since they were free falling at top speed towards the dark waters of the deep large river.

If he didn't come up with a quick solution, they would be both victims of the motherfuckers who he would normally stomp over, who were enthusiastically expecting him to fail and have their royal revenge. Not everyone liked the fact that Uchihas had the supremacy and naturally their power has earned them a large number of haters.

The wind was hitting their soft skin like a leather whip and Sakura could almost feel her adrenaline pound in anticipation of the impact with the water, while her temples felt like exploding and hear ears were perceiving a high pitched powerful tune, making her go deaf.

Sasuke on the other hand was perceiving everything in slow motion and normally jumping and flying were natural traits and skills for any vampire, so he wasn't that affected since he was used to it. Even if he was to simply let his body sink into the water, he could touch the muddy bottom completely harmless, since he didn't need oxygen to live, but Sakura was his main concern.

That girl was never going to make it. She was definitely not a vampire, so he instinctively snuck his both muscular arms around her waist and lean bony shoulders, bringing her flush into his arms, embracing her fully and rather intimately.

The girl grew still into his arms and her limbs were limp, as she probably waited for her to die, so it was very easy for him to move a top speed. In a blink of an eye, gathering the powers he would normally keep unlocked, Sasuke spun their bodies and flipped their position she they were in a standing position, not dipping with their heads first, and growled lowly on his throat. "Mangekyou Sharingan."

In a blink of an eye, a skeleton hand has emerged from the shadows, coated into scorching blazing lavender flames, as Sasuke has gracefully let his feel slide along the silhouette resembling a bone, which made a bridge to the bank of the river, taking them both rolling safely on the damp lush soft grass.

As soon as he felt his back hit the muddy soil, barely avoiding an imminent collision with the uninviting cold dirty water, Sasuke let his head lean backwards, while Sakura was hovering above him, being firmly pressed upon his chest, with her both hands wrapped around his broad shoulders, having her small cold nose buried in the crook of his neck.

If someone was to witness their position in that moment, they looked like a random intimate pair, searching for a secluded place to share affectionate caresses and passionate kisses, under the glowing moonlight and the romantic starry sky.

"Damn it, you are totally insane." He gently scolded the girl, immediately switching off his spinning star shaped bleeding crimson lethal characteristic orbs, changing the color back to the usual black sapphire one. He couldn't believe he has used the secret _bloodline limit_ running into his clan for centuries, to save a mortal. That would piss his father off and make him boil with fury.

"Why?" The girl`s voice was weak, lifeless and void of any hope when she breathed to the man who still had a rather comforting hold on her, making her get a glimpse of what protection really meant, for the first time in her life. "How-?" Of course she would be confused about how has Sasuke managed to take both of them lying on the grass, when they would have normally been shattering the glassy surface of the water and get swallowed by the stream. "Why aren't we into the water?"

"Why are you so eager to die? You are still so young, if my eyes are not deceiving me and you are a years old lady, who looks incredibly good for her age." Sakura couldn't understand the reason why a stranger would go as far as to jump from a bridge with her, nor could she comprehend the way he managed to save her from an imminent death, yet there she was trapped into his strong arms, entangled into his warmth.

"Why do you care if I die or not? In this world, there isn't a single person who cares about what happens to me. Why did you save me?" Never once has someone ever stretched a soothing hand towards her, willing to help, nor was anyone interested to listen to her story. She was inexistent in the society`s eye. There was no one she had to tear if she was in pain, whisper comforting words if she was sad or sick, not even the ones who vowed to take care of her.

That world has only shown her its brutality, in the form of bloody beatings and mental torture, all coming from her abusive adoptive family. What was the worth of continuing to struggle?

It took Sasuke a whole good minute to reply, simply because he was not very talkative to begin with, and definitely not used to be questioned about his inner drivings or feelings. His answer has taken her by surprise, but honesty was dripping from his low baritone voice and she knew he wasn't lying. "I don't know."

Not wanting to spend anymore minute lying down the damp cold grass, feeling his vision get clouded, while his heart was barely pumping and ripples of nausea and pain were hitting his temples, Sasuke gently squeezed the girl`s shoulders, signalizing that he wasn't quite comfortable with that position and she understood his intention to stand.

There was a genuine pretty pale rose hue tinting her small cheeks when she grew aware of the closeness between their bodies, growing ashamed and all shy. She was pressed on a stranger`s body so familiarly and there was no way she could have missed his deliciously ripped tone physique, pressing and molding upon her own.

Before she got the momentum to tear her rather skinny frame from his hard rock one and stand up, Sasuke has rolled on his left shoulder and shot up first, being as swift as a dark puma, holding Sakura`s hands and pulling her up, like a true gentleman.

The adrenaline rush she felt due to terrifying for the physique's natural reaction to a potential dangerous situation, was starting to be replaced by a whole new other sensation, but she had no name for it, simply because no man has ever laid an eye on her, let alone touching her or having any sort of physical contact.

Especially not one who looked the way that raven haired rescuer of her was. When he let go of her hands, Sakura took an immediate step back, feeling the need to put some distance between them, yet she didn't want not be impolite with the man who acted upon his own moral beliefs, not standing the ide of seeing a life ending right before his eyes.

He must have been a good person, whoever that handsome stranger was. But she was an introverted circumspect and modest young girl, not all that use to be talking to people. He on the other hand, was simply standing before her, in all his incredibly tall imposing glory, with his hands slipped into his pockets in a nonchalant, yet ridiculously elegant way, looking so classy, calm, collected and smart.

She took a good look at him and even if she was openly and rather rudely staring right back at him, measuring him from head to toes, he didn't seem to be offended or bothered by it and Sakura guessed that such a fine man must have been used to women salivating at the sight of him.

But she couldn't help it and for a moment, her suicidal tendencies have somehow been shoved off in a distant corner of her cloudy mind while being in his overwhelming presence. Everything about his casual attitude, the finesse in the manner he spoke and wore his classy appearance, to the way he oozed of an unusual seductive mixture of natural inborn refinement, high class and a taunting touch of danger, dark mystery and radiating power, was charming her.

His attire was simple, yet very sophisticated and Sakura swore that only a man like him would be able to wear a pair of dark Jeans and a navy slim silk fitting shirt and look so fashionable with such easiness and nonchalance. And she guessed they were definitely all from famous brands, it was just obvious and if the aura of a high class man wasn't a solid enough proof of the fact that he was wealthy, then the blue _Ulysee Nardin_ Swiss watch decorating his left wrist did the trick. "Who are you?"

She simply asked, being all too intrigued by why in the world such a man would be interested in whatever happened to her . Sakura was not the one to life under the false illusion of a person`s value was not entirely measured by the amount of money he had in his bank accounts, but for how virtuous his soul was, simply because she has been received the wake up slap from the society`s harsh unfair reality.

"Uchiha Sasuke." The appetizing onyx eyed man answered her and Sakura was kind of found herself drown by how velvet and pampering his incredibly rich contralto voice really was and she swore she got chills creeping from the confinements of her chest whenever he opened those thin silky looking kissable looking lips of his to talk.

And her heart did a flip flop the moment a sinfully irresistible small smirk rose on the corner of his pressed lips when he dropped the last thing she would have expected to hear from anyone in that lifetime. "And to cut long story short, I am a _vampire_."

She promptly and totally unexpectedly burst out laughter and not necessary because of the ridiculous thing that he has told her, but more for the fact that he seemed to be rather serious, like he was truly _meaning_ every syllable he spoke. " _What_?" She didn't quite mean to be arrogant, but there was a hint of cockiness mixed into the disbelief of her voice, which was all but screaming that she didn't believe a single word, which was understandable. "Do you think that if _I_ want to take my life, it is because I am _nuts_?"

Sasuke was many things, but an idiot he was definitely _not_. He didn't expect the girl to believe him. He would have been stunned to find out that she actually did, which would only confirm his suspicion of her being out of her mind, but the girl seemed rather level-headed and intelligent. "I am telling you the truth."

It was quite uncommon and many times forbidden for a vampire to reveal his identity to a mortal, simply because the society was not in the bit prepared to learn that there was another species at the top of the food chain, being far superior to the human race.

Coming to the light and making it official that such creatures, wielding immortality and possessing intangible powers, being a fearsome imminent danger to the weaker and more vulnerable _Homo sapiens sapiens_ , would throw the entire world into a crisis and the reign of fear would be the one to rule, which everyone wanted to avoid.

So it was an entire secrecy among the highest and most exclusive circles, including the world`s leaders and military organizations who were aware of the existence of vampires, making a living along the humans, and they took every single necessary measures to ensure that humans would _never_ find out about their existence.

So Sasuke actually broke a silent agreement of both parties to never bring the topic into the public`s eye, by admitting it to the helpless slightly trembling girl, but he did it anyways. He wasn't the only one, that was for certain, but then again, he was not an ordinary vampire either. He was their Prince.

"Do you think that I would ever believe such a thing?" The girl threw back to him and Sasuke quietly assessed her trying to understand why the heck did he actually lose his time with saving her? And the answer came to him in the next two seconds when the unthinkable happened.

Even if his tranquil appearance betrayed nothing from what was going on inside his mind, Sasuke couldn't ignore the sharp sudden puncture of his growing two canines, molding in the familiar shape of a cone, and the two razor like fangs grazing the soft skin of his lower lip made him taste his own cold thick dark blood on the tip of his tongue and that sent alarming bells through his alert skull.

He knew all too well what it meant for a vampire`s _fangs_ to show up when in the presence of another person or vampire: the **blood** he needed to nourish his growing thirst was flowing down her fine dainty body and it wasn't just worth of an ordinary mean, which he could easily skip by feeding from tomato juice or animals` meat.

No, it was an exquisite fest and the supreme blood experience which only happened when, surprisingly and sensually enough, those two parties were having a strange connection and they were compatible.

It was one thing for a vampire to drink the blood of a random person, because even if they were indeed immortal they needed to eat and feed like any other normal creature, but actually finding what could have been considered the fated one was something rather rare.

It only meant that the blood flowing through that emerald eyed girl`s veins would not only feed him, but would make him restore his strength and even help him grow stronger. Up until then, Sasuke has _never_ encountered such a female, not even among the most noble pure blooded vampire clans, even if suitors were overflowing, since they were talking about an Uchiha heir.

And everything was clear for him, even if Sakura was more in the shadows than ever. The impulse to jump into the fire to ensure her safety, the way his all body trembled in anticipation when he touched her smooth skin, the mesmerizing scent of her natural sweet cherry blossoms scent, tingling his nostrils and senses like the finest ambrosia and the unexplainable attraction towards her, all fell into places.

He slightly cocked his head, making the silk strands from his bangs fell sensually over his smoldering sparkling sapphire orbs, deepening his smirk, while taking a nimble step towards her, pinning the rooted in place much smaller girl with his penetrating jet stare alone, while coming to shadow her like a predatory hawk.

"All of you live with your own preconceptions, clinging to the things you can grasp," His silk voice never went beyond the serene wind`s lulling level, sending cold shivers down Sakura`s spine, which in return started to grow aware of the fact that whoever that man was, was more than she would believe. "the things you call _reality_ , might as well be an illusion, serving the sole purpose of keeping you safe, by not being told how this world truly is."

Seeing that the girl before him had troubles comprehending the meaning of his words, Sasuke decided to stop beating around the bush and be prompter. Yet, he kept his voice seductively low and serene, following her reactions closely, with an intuitive keen eye, observing the way she grew alert around him. "Are you able to accept that the fine veil between the world you live in, hides mysteries which go beyond your level of understanding and perception?"

"What are you talking about?" Sakura on the other hand, started to feel cold shivers creeping along her spine and the onyx eyed man`s presence started to make her feel uncomfortable. She couldn't simply believe such a ridiculous story, yet the fact that there was indeed a tangible suspense lingering above his shoulders and an intriguing mystery, was making her panic. "You scare me."

"How much do you know?" Sasuke shot back at her, ignoring her last statement. He had to be tactful and pay his cards right if he wished for the girl to follow him. It was vital for him to be patient and not lose gentleness and normally that would have been a breeze for a stoic steel like hard man like him, if not for the fact that he desperately needed blood.

"About what?"

"About everything. Want me to break it all to you?" Slowly so as if to let her know that he came with his heart opened and clear thoughts, not attempting to fool her into letting his guard down for even a moment before he would strike, Sasuke took a step forward, maintaining a pinning intense permanent eye contact with the entrapped girl. "You know _nothing._ "

"I-I think I should go…" Sakura tried, yet when she wanted to beckon her legs to spin on her heels and make a run for it, she found herself glued to the ground, unable to move. Her mind and body were not synchronized.

"Where? Up there again? I warned you, haven't I? I will not let you do it."

"Please don t hurt me."

"Why are you afraid? Weren't you the one who wanted to die?" Sasuke came to stand in front of her, stopping at less than a step from her allowing Sakura to breathe yet letting her know that she was powerless and totally defenseless in front of his striking raw strong toned figure and she hasn't backed away from him. "Believe me, If I wanted to harm you, you wouldn't have been standing before me like this by now."

Sakura knew he was right, it was just so obvious. She knew that under those fancy clothes, there was a tantalizing sculpted body and that shirt he wore did less than nothing to conceal his protruding lean fibers. A man who no one wished to get into an altercation with. "I _don't_ want to die!" Slowly but surely the stress has the after effect of losing her adrenaline rush started to take a toll on her and Sakura found herself blurting and shouting in his face.

Though, her bell like soft voice turned into a sobbing whisper when she cast her emerald eyes down, looking at their shadows ad feet, admitting. "But I don't want to live either."

"Then chose the **middle** way. Learn _how_ to live."

"What? How? How can you be happy when living, while dying at the same time?" For Sasuke, Sakura looked like the typical example of a desperate human being who stepped so low, that even his most sacred belonging meant less than nothing, and that was his very existence.

She started to lose fierceness and guts to do something ever so stupid like committing suicide and only then was he able to take a glimpse of how fragile and heartbreaking her state really was. Was that girl even eating?

" _I_ can show you. You just have to say _yes_ , and come with me."

Was he serious? Sakura was suddenly at loss of what to do. She couldn't possibly go back home since she has run from there, without looking back even if Mebuki has threatened her that she would kill her if she went as far as to denounce them to the police or try to run away, but she knew better than to follow a random man with insane ideas, in the middle of the night.

Suddenly a heartbreaking feeling has thorn her heart in half, when the more than depressing thought of her losing everything, the impulse of ending her life once and for all included, entered her system. "I don't know you. I cannot follow a total stranger. I don't trust you."

"I am aware you don't, but know this: I entrusted you one of my deepest secret and I will probably pay the price for this treachery. When telling you who I am, I have endangered the entire race of my friends, family and brethren."

Little did she know that when Fugaku would find out, he would march down his apartment, to scold his ass for doing something so stupid and his father`s nagging and annoying rant was the last thing he needed.

"What are you talking about, vampires do _not_ exist! They aren't real, this are all legends, stories unveiled from stupid myths without any solid ground-"

"They ARE real and whether you accept it or not, they we will still continue to walk past you, without you to notice it." Sasuke successfully shut her up with that statement, because Sakura couldn't deny that fact, it was logical if she were to think like that. "But you…for the first time in my life, there is one woman," Ever so softly, Sasuke lifted his left hand and, with a touch that was the very epitome of delicacy and grace, he traced the slim contour of her jaw line, soothing her and lulling her to indulge into the sweet fascination of his spellbound.

And when his thumb brushed past her full heart shaped luscious rosy lip, Sakura inhaled sharply once, holding her breath, the sensation being magnetizing. A slim long digit slide under her pointed chin, making her arch her neck and look into his onyx eyes. "-who makes me feel things I have only been told of, but never experienced befor." The things coming out of his mouth were ripped from a fairytale story book and Sakura felt her heart pound inside her chest, like a trapped lady bird, sending shivers along her forearms. "For that special one, I will grant her a **wish**."

Shimmering forest green hues went wide as the full moon`s round shaped fading blue halo when she heard what he was willing to offer. There was no trace of arrogance or mockery into his tone, he was being dead serious. "Anything you want, you name it and _I_ shall make it happen. I will give you anything."

For a girl like Sakura, such things belonged to the realm of sweet dreams and fantasies, but never meant to transcend into reality. It was too idyllic to be true. A drop dead incredibly gorgeous and probably insanely rich man has popped out from the limbs of darkness, stopping her from jumping of the bridge, saving her life in a way that would probably blow up all her physical perceptions over the surrounding world, offering her the world on a silver plate.

Her sharp keen observant mind was quick to formulate the most reasonable question, which she has whispered to him and inwardly, Sasuke applauded the young woman before him for her wisdom and smart mind. "In exchange for what?" Perfection always came with a price.

"In exchange for your blood." He simply told him, as casual as he was talking about the latest football results and her jaw dropped to the ground, while her emerald incredulous orbs almost budged out of their sockets.

"M-My blood? B-But you told me you didn't want to kill-"

"I am not a murderer. You will live. I will never hurt you."

"Then how? Are you some sort of loaded creep, with bizarre fetish and sexual odd fantasies?" If anything, the fact that he was a vampire or some stupid bizarre creature was anything that she was never going to accept and all her emotions and her thoughts were unfolding before Sasuke`s onyx orbs like an opened scroll, reading the contents of it clearly.

He sighed and opened up his mouth, flashing her his set of pearl white set of canines, understanding that the beautiful rose haired young woman was the kind to only trust what lied before her eyes and whatever was within her reach. And her hands covered her mouth and she jerked her head from his touch taking two steps behind horrified. "Oh dear _Lord_! This cannot be real! This is a _nightmare_ , I am dreaming. You are not here. This is impossible, no way, _no_ freaking way!"

He patiently waited for her to snap out of her shock, following every reaction she had, starting from her rapid rises and falls of her chest, her accelerating pulse, the erratic desperate inhales and exhales, the astonishing glint of her twinkling jade widened orbs and quivering lips.

But when he saw that she was starting to hyperventilate while her gaze hasn't shifted from his fangs, he attempted to approach her once again, but she stopped him with her visibly afraid stutter. "N-No, don't come closer! Stay away from me!"

"What would you do now?" Sasuke interjected, remaining glued to his position, while his fingers wrapped around his knuckles, fisting and pressing down his palm, stopping himself from doing any excessive gesture that might make her feel threatened by his presence. That would start to take an unfortunate turn of events which he didn't like.

"I-I will run from you and go ho-" words refused to come out of her mind when Sakura was slapped back into the cruel reality, realizing that she didn't have a place to turn back to. And her foster family was clearly not an option. If she went back, they would kill her, she was sure of it.

"You said you don't have a place to return to." Sakura nodded feeling a pang down her chest, akin to a claw tearing her heart apart, and she cast her turning sad emerald orbs down to look at her bare toes, brushing the short blades of the grass. That time, she heard Sasuke`s approach but did nothing to step away from him.

Whatever would do to her, it didn't matter anymore. And somehow, an unexplainable dainty whisper coming from the most secured spots inside her mind told her that the raven haired gorgeous male wouldn't hurt her.

A lean strong hand encircled her petite waist, coming to rest on her lower back, bringing her closer to his hard steel carved body, slowly and she hasn't protest. If anything his beauty was overlapping to the maddening thought of him not being human and she wouldn't deny the fact that up until then, he did absolutely nothing to reveal his bloody intention to harm her in any way. In fact, his elegance never stopped to amaze her. "You can come and live with me and no one will touch you. I promise you. You are going to be safe."

"What do you _really_ want from me?" The things he was telling her were surreal and the rose haired woman couldnt comprehend what could she possibly have to offer for a man who seemed to have everything, since he was so willing to go so far for a no one like she was.

"I have already told you. Your blood, this is what I need from you."

"Why mine? Why not anyone else`s?" For one moment of craziness, Sakura allowed herself to indulge into that crazy ridiculous and hard to believe story and believe his words, supposing that vampires were indeed, more than a legend.

"I will tell you if you agree. I have already disclosed you too much. Anything more will put your life into danger. _They_ are quick to deal with the ones who pry too much into our lives."

"You promised to help me fulfill a promise in exchange for me….letting you to…" Sakura trailed, not actually having the strength to voice out a thing that was making bile raise her mouth. If anything, it was a rather disgusting thought, that only BDSM practitioners would maybe found it entertaining, but definitely not someone as laid back and reticent as her. "Was it true? Will you do anything I ask you to?"

His answer went smooth and unfaltering, leaving no room for interpretation. "Yes."

"Then I will tell you exactly what my wish really is." She had no idea of why was she willing to succumb into such a mad thought, but Sakura rose her forest green orbs, gazing into his pearl black ones and made up her mind. " **I want to…feel. For the first time in my life, I want to feel alive**."

Those were the dear words coming straight from the bottle of her heart, and Sasuke was taken aback by the candid unusual request. If anything, he expected her to ask him material things, considering the fact that she was most likely living in poverty, such as cars, expensive clothes, jewelry, holidays or even sexual favors, which wouldn't be shocking, considering the fact that he was the embodiment of any women`s ideal of a sensual dark desire and ideal of a hot man.

Apparently, that young woman, with the most vivid sparkling forest green hues was slightly different and more profound from the majority and he appreciated her for that. Needless to say that the deeper her way of thinking was, the most difficult to fulfill her request would be.

"Your name was Sasuke, right?" The man before her nodded once, secretly wished for her to say it again with that feminine innocent touch delicate voice of hers and she did, like reading his mind. "Then Sasuke, can you do this for me? This happiness that everyone talks about…I want to be happy too, even if it is for just one moment. I want to know _how_ it is."

If anything, Sakura has long came to terms that she wanted to die and her resolve was still unfaltering, yet she didn't want to let it go before she knew exactly the things she decided to give up to. What was the use of struggling for 21 years, if she didn't get the chance to feel the supreme human emotion dancing on her own heart`s melody? Then everything would have indeed been in vain. "I have never been happy, this is why I want to die."

Unbeknownst to the rosette, a crystal drop of tear sparkled at the corner of her glassy emerald eye, flowing down her rose kissed cheek, but it didn't go unnoticed by Sasuke. She was slightly weeping and it was all because she felt something stirring into that bottomless abyss of her solitary heart stir, like the most candid timid emotion struggling to come to light and she hasn't expected such a thing.

But she couldn't help it, there was something unexpectedly emotional regarding her unexpected encounter with Sasuke and for one moment, she felt like someone actually cared for whatever happened to her life. And that broke down the walls around her heart, making place for his elegant presence to enter and peek inside.

"Tell me your name." He sensually requested and she felt her heart starting to pump faster. There was something sensational about his impossibly inky orbs which she couldn't decipher, yet she simply couldn't look away. They were incredibly beautiful. Out of that world, dare she say.

"It`s S-Sakura. H-Haruno Sakura."

A ghost of a smirk grew on his lips and he repeated her name, rolling it ever so seductively over his tongue, giving her a noble and dignified resonance. "Sakura. So fitting." His warm hand came to the fluttering long petal rose locks of her hair, fluttering past her temples, coaxing her to relaxes under his touch, it felt like heaven and unnatural graceful. "Do you have anyone? A family? Friends? Living relatives? Pets? A boyfriend? A _fiancé_?" He quickly saw she wasn't married, gazing at her bare finger.

Truth to be told, even if she would have been, he wouldn't have given a damn about it.

"No. I have no one, beside my foster parents and I can hardly relate to those people." She averted her gaze to her bare shoulder, follow the contour of an older scar grazing her pearl fine luscious skin.

And she has almost had a heart attack, when Sasuke's hand traveled along her forearms and traced her bare cold creamy skin, making her shuddered under his magnetizing touch. He said nothing, yet his smoldering eyes were hard and somehow flaming at the idea of someone doing such a thing to the creature in front of him.

He felt fury boil he wanted to go and murder those people. In his mind, he already planned to do so. "I cannot promise you to bring you happiness, Sakura. But I will show you _my_ world if you will let me and whether you come to enjoy the way I live, or not, will be your own free decision."

She understood what he meant by that. Sakura could clearly see that Sasuke was definitely a reasonable intelligent man, who would never venture in promising something that was not in his ability to make it happen.

Of course he couldn't assure her that his view of happiness would be similar to her own, but she appreciated his honesty. Yet, he was willing to give it a try and he was being very honest with her.

"Can I really live a-among vampires?" That was truly something which scared the heck out of her. She still had troubles believing him, but if that would be true, then two opposing words would collide and Sakura wasn't sure that her mental strength was stronger than a vampire`s.

She would enter a world she knew nothing off, entirely depending on Sasuke.

"We have been living together up until now. The only difference is that we have never met." He smartly shot back to her, silently assuring her that he knew everything of her concern, yet she should be afraid.

She nodded once and threw a quick glance around like she was pondering things for one more moment. He waited patiently for her to make up her mind. Though he knew that vampires could be brutal, impatient and thirsty for aggressively, Sasuke was far superior in attitude and manners. He won't force any woman into anything. That would be the ultimate shame to cast upon his reputation and his family name. "Must I come with you now? What you see…is everything I have. You see I am not exactly having any mone-"

"My home is not far from here." Sasuke decided to cut her short, already knowing what she wanted to say, but wouldn't allow her to get embarrassed by her modest condition. "Your simple agreement is enough. Anything else, _I_ will _give it to you_." She blushed at the innuendo of his words and the prospect of truly going to live with such a fine man under the same roof. "You will have everything you need. I will make sure of it."

He wrapped his hands around her waist once more and that time she fully leaned into his chest, welcoming his incredibly inviting warmth, enjoying the feeling of being embraced by someone. "Aren't we going?"

"We are. Get ready, this will probably be fun." Before she had the chance to question about what exactly did he have in stock for her, a quick flicker of his eyes got them out of that depressing poorly illuminated place at top speed.

* * *

Next thing she knew, they were on a different part of the city which she knew it belonged to the richest people, because only they would afford to shop there or buy flats and houses there. And it was quite the experience to step in there, without being considered a beggar and a thief.

"Whoa! That was rather unconventional."

"I am no _ordinary_ man either." He shrugged and beckoned her to follow his tail, to the entrance of a tall modern building, made entirely of blue tinted glass, having a spectacular shape and she did. They went inside the building and Sasuke quickly lead her to the see through glass elevator, pressing down the golden button which indicated the 13th floor.

She would have laughed at the number of choice, if she wouldn't have been so busy with ogling, gaping and marveling at the city lights, gluing her nose on the sliding doors and marveled looking around. "Whoa! So pretty!"

Sasuke smirked at her fascination, knowing that she was poor and she would probably find everything spectacular and special, akin to a kid lost among the shelves with candies and toys, but somehow she was interesting to follow.

Sakura was so very different to the kinds of women he has been introduced to and no one has managed to add so much mystery, fascination and innocence beside her name, like the rose haired beauty in front of him did.

He casually leaned his back on the shut doors, letting his gaze lazily stroll over her body, while she was busy gaping at the sudden abundance of luxury enfolding before her starry eyes. She was thin and fragile looking, probably because she didn't have money to properly feed, yet her skinny condition did nothing to conceal the natural blissful grace that Mother Nature has gifted her with, because the siren curves, the delicate falls and rises of her slender hips and the firm rounded swell of her supple breasts were sending his blood straight down his pants, imagining all the ways he would like to touch her and how.

Her skin looked and felt like the polished surface of a pearl luscious pearl, and it was silkier than the finest material. The simple slim tank top she wore taunted him with a full view over her slender straight spine and lean shoulders.

But the thing that mesmerized him from the very beginning was the unusual shade of her cashmere long pastel rose tresses, which were delicately brushing past her waist and he still had the feeling of her hair on the palm of his hand.

Sasuke has never encountered someone with such a natural hair color and he found it special and beautiful. And of course, then came her twinkling garnet green big eyes, which stunned him with the angelic innocence playing into them. There were subtle hints of pure golden mixed into the bright forest green shade of her irises and the vampire prince swore he never saw anything to resemble ineffable in such an irresistible way than she did.

In the limbs of the night she looked like the human personification of the blooming moon, creeping from behind the velvet clouds, shining through the limbs of the night, with an ethereal fascination of a maiden in an ancient sacred temple and he simply couldn't tear his hues off from the irresistible image of her innocence.

A loud short _'dang'_ signalizing their arrival to the wanted floor, followed by the doors sliding open. "Come." Sasuke instructed as she eagerly followed him suit, silently thanking all the Heavens that there was no one around at that hour to see her. She was still looking like a tramp without shoes. They got out in a long honey and vanilla painted hall with a red carpet on the floor, while Sasuke slipped his hand down his back pocket, opening his wallet and taking off his access card.

He slide it into the lock of the last door from the end of the hall, and held the door open for her to step inside first and it was not exactly the image she had in mind, when he dropped the shocker that he was a vampire.

In all honestly, Sakura expected to come across some sort of underground base, with a heavy gothic touch and all sorts of creepy things that she only seen in movies, namely candles of all forms and shapes, crucifixes, weird vintage paintings and heavy furniture and of course, the cherry on the top: a giant _coffin_ occupying the middle of the room, all but screaming ' _Dracula-still-nerfs-your-vampire-idols'._

She found nothing of that kind.

Instead, she came across an ultra-luxury modern flat, with an astonishing panoramic view on the skyscrapers and the sea and it was beyond spectacular. "Wow, this is… _not_ exactly what I would have expected."

"Were you afraid I will sleep in some uncomfortable rigid ancient coffin, surrounded by candles, spiders' webs and bats?" Sasuke smirked when she pursed her lips and averted her emerald ashamed eyes from him, feeling stupid forever entertaining such outrageous foolish thoughts, but he understood where she was coming from.

The mortals have only been served idiotic stories and presented a distorted side of the story, though imbecile books and horrid movies, which were far from reality. She wasn't the one to blame and she wasn't quick to judge him.

"Well kinda…to be honest, _yes_. Sorry."

"It is ok." He turned on the lights and followed her roam around not touching everything. "I know it might sound cliché, but feel free to use this place at your own content. And before you start to freak out, I am living alone. My parents live on the other side of the town and they never come."

She didn't question about the reason why would someone who has been blessed with a family refusing any sort of contact but there was something indecipherable and weird playing into those black sapphire eyes of him, which alerted her to keep any thoughts for herself and she did. "This is beautiful. Can I?" She meant the veranda. Sasuke nodded once and she wasted no more seconds, pulling the curtain and sliding the door open, stepping outside.

She has been welcomed by a cool wind blow as her widened eyes mirrored the million twinkling stars decorating the velvet open night sky. The fool moon was emerging from the sea and Sakura couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of the city she has always lived in.

She hasn't realized how beautiful the skyscrapers were, pointing proudly towards the majestic sky, their lights were flickering and the vibe of the city was giving her a distinctive feeling of freedom and security. For the first time in her life, Sakura wasn't feeling threatened. There was no Kizashi to come and beat her, there was no Mebuki to call her a nuisance and there weren't school mates or teachers to mock her for being a poor sewer rat and a beggar.

"As long as you don't try to jump again." Sasuke came to stand beside her, turning his back on the railing, leaning on it, arms crossed, gazing at the rose haired enchanted lady.

She was almost ashamed of her behavior, coming to realize how stupid her conduct really was. It looked like a good idea back there on the bridge, but when she came to his home, standing at the top of the world, she learned about how idiotic that truly was. "This is amazing!" The emerald eyed young woman breathed dreamy, letting her orbs dart to ever single detail, following the pattern and design of various shops and rooftops.

"I know. This is the reason why I bought this flat." Sasuke told her evenly, and Sakura turned her head over her shoulder to gaze in his general direction. The full moon was glowing behind him, making him perfectly blend into the wings of the night, highlighting the electric blue hints from his raven rebel spikes. She felt her butterflies flutter down her stomach making her pulse accelerate. He was so goddamn _beautifu_ l, that it was impossible for her not to look at him with those eyes.

And maybe that was why Sasuke wasn't bothered by the way she was looking at him. Unlike all the other women, her emerald hues were not full of lewd thoughts, her gaze wasn't lustful nor offensive, she was just admiring him like she was seeing something beautiful, which she liked. "Are you hungry?" He inquired and Sakura nodded energetically, biting her lower lip. He could bet she was.

"Very." Sakura knew that hasn't eaten since yesterday and her stomach was killing her but she didn't want to be a bother. She was hardly offered something to eat, since Mebuki and Kizashi didn't quite care about her and she mostly lived on the neighbors'` pity. Yet she never asked for anything from anyone. "B-But it is fine, I am already used to not eat for da-"

"-Will something Italian be on your taste?" He cut her short, not even wanting to imagine her being forced to starve, because that thought was making him feel sick, so without waiting for her to answer him, the young Uchiha vampire was already tapping something on his expensive phone and she followed his moves, fascinated by his elegance and refinement.

"What are you doing?"

"Ordering from my favorite restaurant, what else? Cooking is not exactly my all-time passion." He casually informed her, while he glued the speaker to his ear, locking his gaze with her, waiting for the polite answer of the woman`s sugary coated voice on the other side of the line.

Sakura raised a confused fine coral eyebrow at him, feeling rather guilty that he had to go through all that trouble because of her. At least, that was how she viewed such an insignificant gesture coming from someone like Sasuke. "D-Do vampires eat as in… _normal_ food?"

"Yes." Before she had the chance to throw another set of questions, she saw his onyx eyes dart to the tallest building behind her back, mumbling something in Italian and she was secretly drooling at his sensual flawless accent. Amazing how he could turn such an unimportant casual thing like listing types of food from a menu, into something so aristocratic, but she guessed it was the fascination of encountering someone who was different from her.

But Sakura surely could feel the anticipation of touching something tasty rising over her skin, along with the cold shivers from spending so much time under the cool night, in such thin clothes, but she didn't quite care about the state she was in when she run away from the torture chamber that has served as a home for so much time, when her sole intent was to die.

Sasuke`s velvet baritone voice made her snap out of her depressing thoughts, beckoning her to follow him back inside which she did, after she threw one more glance over her shoulder, to memorize the delightful scenery. "Come. I will show you your room. It is the guests` room actually, but the name is purely symbolic. I have never actually used it."

Curious as where how her room would look like, Sakura eagerly followed the handsome Uchiha`s lead and her mouth turned into a surprised 'o'. Just like the rest of his luxurious spacious home, that room was very modern, the walls were asymmetrically cut and painted in a soothing combination of golden and light lavender, with a very modern architecture.

The furniture was also stylish and sophisticated, yet they weren't cold and lifeless, but rather warm and cozy. She was immediately drown to the huge wall made entirely of glass, which, just like the living room, offered a breathtaking panoramic view over the city and the sea.

"You can always see the sun rise from here." Sasuke explained, following her movements with a calculating keen observant eye, while the rosette was looking like she wished to touch anything, but didn't know if she should.

"Can I really sleep in here?" Her siren soft happy voice was like a choir of cherubs playing the harp into his living room and Sasuke couldn't help but marvel at how different from him she was, yet how natural was she fitting into his place. He nodded once, smirking when her forest green orbs filled with joy and hope. "Thank you!"

For the first time that day, Sasuke actually saw that coral haired young woman smile and she was easily competing with a morning beaming sun shine in August. The moment she has curled up her appetizing heart shaped full lips up to grace his view with a full hearted smile, revealing a set of pearl while teeth, something flickered into his chest.

All her graceful swan like features were glowing with an unusual golden light, while the sparks inside her viridian golden orbs grew in intensity and he found her ethereal. "Where is _your_ room?"

A ghost of a smirk took the place of his impassive façade, when he cocked his head and taunted her. "Why so curious?"

"For nothing. You don't have a coffin inside, do you?" She pouted comically and Sasuke couldn't help but chuckled darkly, making rapid tremors roll down her spine at how incredibly hot his voice sounded. "You do?!"

"Wanna find out?" In a blink of an eye, he shifted his tall handsome frame from the door step, materializing right before her stunned emerald eyes and she gasped. He was fast as light and moved with the easiness of crane grazing the infinite azure.

"I am a man of my words, and I promised to help you fulfill a wish. I will allow you everything to make it happen." He breathed to her, while Sakura was slightly taken aback by the way he suddenly eyes, looking at something in the other corner of the room, looking like he was dizzy and confused.

"Are you ok?"

He was hardly feeling all right in that moment. Sasuke knew that using his Sharingan, while he has been deprived of human blood for half an year, only taking his necessary nutrients from the special blood pills developed by one of his genius friends, Hyuga Neji, who was also a convinced adept of living solely on pills and human food and fighting the urges to drink hot blood and harm people and tomato or carrots juice and red beef meat.

He was so weak that he was barely keeping himself in a standing position, even if he was good in hiding it from Sakura, but in reality he had no energy left into his cells. As repulsive as that might have sounded, to feed from a breathing living creature, he _needed_ it. It was in his blood, it was the genetic heritage of his family and being an Uchiha automatically came to a greater need to feel a vein pump in between his fangs.

He let his gaze return to her, locking his gaze with her slightly worried and confused beaming emerald ones, while he brought his hand over her cheek where it lingered for a moment, feeling the softness of her porcelain skin, before he let his fingertips slide across her jaw and down her slim swan neck, along her pulse, clearly feeling her heart rate escalade under his touch. "You have no idea how much I need…"

She gulped and traced her tongue over her lips while her skin covered in goose bumps inhaling sharply once, startled by the sensations he evoked with a simple, yet so delightful feather like touch. There was something oddly familiar and natural in the way her body responded to his hot irresistible call which were making her feel like floating above the clouds.

Sakura was not oblivious nor stupid or a liar. She knew all too well the reason why she was there and the price she has been asked in return to him pulling out of the bottom of the society and bringing her among the finest and wealthiest. He already made it clear before he asked her for something in return. "Y-You have to d-drink from my… _now_?" She was beyond revolted and disgusted to imagine her blood being drunk by someone, but that was just her opinion as a mortal.

"I will not force you to do anything you don't feel comfortable with." She couldn't understand how it was such an outrageous frightening experience was supposed to be comfortable, but the dread was starting to creep from her chest while her erratic heart kept on pumping adrenaline through her system. She was very scared ad she wasn't hiding it. "I need your free consent for this. I already told you I will not hurt you."

Even if she knew that the moment to repay him would eventually come, she wasn't prepared for it to be so soon. And like any other human, she was afraid of the unknown, but Sasuke knew it all too well. He kept on stroking her cheek and brush her silk coral hair, while she unconsciously leaned into his touch.

What he was really doing, was to probe whether her inner spirit was indeed lulled by him, responding to his presence and he has been right. She was not afraid of him, she was afraid of what she thought it was going to be a rather nasty painful experience.

"How are you going to do _it_?" Her bell like soft tune inquired, while her lips started to quiver, yet she was fighting to hold back her lamenting. She has agreed to that so she wouldn't go against her word. She too had morals, even if she hardly had anything to eat.

"This is the only part of the puerile legends which is true." Something in his slightly hoarse voice has changed and Sakura couldn't help but shiver at the way he dropped it two octaves, making his alto tune sound darkly and sinfully delicious, like dark chocolate. "And I can promise it is the _best_ part of it."

If anything, his gorgeous looks and sensual voice were the best aphrodisiac for any unpleasant sensation that would come, and Sakura paid attention to the way Sasuke parted his lips, allowing his canines to point down, looking sharper than a steel blade polished, yet it was nothing exaggerated nor entirely frightening. He didn't have sharp fangs like beasts from horror movies. They were slightly longer and had the characteristic shape, but nothing grotesque. And they were oddly fitting. If anything, there was nothing that could tame down his incredibly beauty.

Up until that moment, Sasuke has been the polite hot guy next door, who she would call to fix up her car, or the handsome stranger with a kind heart, but being in his home, with a twinkling city caught in slumber and a spending round moon as silent witnesses, completely changed the atmosphere between them.

And Sakura couldn't help but feel her emerald orbs get glassy and tad darker, while she could perceive the sparkling intimate sensation under her fingertips, lingering between the comfortable silence veiling the two of them. What was going on, why was she suddenly feeling hotter and more courageous under Sasuke`s bottomless onyx eyes?

There was something driving her to ask something of him that she secretly wished to ask from a man, but never had the chance to even dream of, since most of them were avoiding her like plague, yet the temptation was too irresistible.

Sasuke told her he would try to show her the meaning of that life and he gave her his word, so that was why there was something she wanted to request, before allowing him to taste her blood. An as egregious as it was, held some sort of mutual trust and respect, and it was exactly that consensus that she wanted to first touch, before putting her life on line.

"Can I touch you?"

She was afraid that Sasuke would harshly reject her rather bold and odd request or he would think that she was a major creep, but he hasn't even blinked, like he was expecting her to ask such a thing, daring her to be more opened to himself, with his silence.

Inwardly, the Uchiha vampire prince thought he would choke on his own spit. If anything, he didn't see it coming, that a girl like Sakura would have such a request, but he couldn't say that he was angry. On the contrary, he would have loved to throw her on the wall beside them, pin her back under that cubist picture hanging on it, and teach her how to properly touch him if that was what she wished, but he understood that she was more poetic and romantic in the way she thought, so he tamed down his lust and let curiosity take its place.

"Yes." His hand stopped on her collarbone, where he was kneading the protruding fine contour of her bone, exploring and feeling the junction of her shoulder and neck, with the life pumping through her, blinking once and leaned forward to whisper hotly into the shell of her ear. "Though I must warn you about something. I have no idea of how many mortal guys you have been with before, but being with a vampire is a whole _other_ story."

She had no idea how it was to be intimate with a vampire, especially since she was a mortal tasting sin for the first time in her life. He wouldn't mind to let her find out, either.

Upon seeing how she shuddered at the way he rolled each word on his tongue and his velvet voice caressed her eardrums, Sasuke couldn't help but let his enormous manly ego add another sentence with an astonishing implication. "Especially when you are together with their _Prince_."

Forest green orbs went wide as the sun upon hearing that Sasuke was not just a simple vampire, and although she had no idea what a prince among the immortal ones meant, she realized that it was clearly someone with a vast influence upon the others.

Suddenly she grew ashamed and all shy again, averting her emerald eyes from his onyx slightly amused ones and her cheeks blushed. "I-I h-have...n-not...a boyfriend I mean. No one liked me before."

"Hn. I knew they were simple minded creature whose sole purpose in life is to be nourishment for." Ever so tenderly, Sasuke cupped Sakura`s bowed chin, lifting her head up, whispering to her lowly, darkly, seductively and mesmerizingly. "You are very _beautiful._ The most beautiful mortal I have ever seen." She wanted to say something, but no words left her parted lips, simply because she didn't know how to react, although she was deeply touched and flattered. Up until then, no one has ever praised or complimented her in any way, especially someone who looked like _that_.

"You tell this to any girls you want to...suck their blood?"

"I hardly talk to women. They are usually boring, shallow, materialistic, self-centric and only good for carnal pleasures." The handsome ebony haired vampire admitted, while he slowly dipped his head down, angling his face to mold between her collar bone and jawline, letting his hot tongue roll from his mouth, tapping her neck.

Startled by his sudden action and the electric bolt shooting along her spine, the emerald eyed girl`s hands flew on Sasuke`s shoulders, wrapping her trembling digits around the lean rounded bone, while she almost chocked on air.

"Ah!" Forest green intoxicated orbs squeezed shut, while her heart was thumping like a gong, making her feel lightheaded.

"Pleasure that _I_ can give." Sasuke let his slick abrasive tongue graze along her lean neck and pulse, breathing hotly to the unmoving girl. "If I can have a part of you, then it is only fair you can have a part of me."

To prove her that he wasn't a man who wouldn't play far, nor a teenager ruled by raging hormones, without control, he briefly pulled back from her and with the precision and grace of an excellent pianist, he unfastened every button of his shirt, up to the last, while Sakura`s stare was being kept glued to the skin revealed before her eyes.

Now Sakura was hardly a pervert or a disrespectful person, without any shame, but she was also a young woman with a natural inborn fascination and attraction towards vigorous men, especially the ones who looked the way Sasuke was.

And if she thought his special unique looks was beautiful, his physique took her breath away. His incredibly smooth alabaster skin was carved in flawless sharp strong steel looking muscles, rippling from his broad Herculean chest, down his stomach, were a perfect set of eight packs was flashing before her eyes, in all their virile perfection.

He was crayoned in sharp lines and precise angles, every inch of his lean long fibers, oozing a masculine seductive strength, was ample and perfectly contoured, his slim long waist was wrapped with well-defined toned muscles, in a mouthwatering triangle shape and the taunting dark fine thatch from under his belly button was leading her darkened gaze down under his Jeans, inviting her to fantasize about how spending the rest of him truly was.

The glowing pearl pallor of his skin was emphasized by the dark navy half opened shirt, hanging on his broad lean shoulders ,creating a very erotic contrast with his appetizing rock hard body. If she was to judge Sasuke by any stereotype, he was the epitome of an imposing Greek statue of an glorious powerful deity, praised for both his strength and beauty.

Sakura has never seen such a sensual combination between a rather slim and slender body, and a set of incredibly toned and deeply carved like Sasuke did. He wasn't bulky, exaggerated or pumped, in a grotesque way. He was tall, thin and yet, his hard rock muscles were delicious, protruding and radiated a maddening warmth, lulling her into getting drown by their sight.

He was gorgeous as Hell, she couldn't deny it. Seeing that she was frozen in a trace like state, looking at him gaping, Sasuke took her right hand into his one and guided her towards his chest, where her fingertips tapped his heart.

She was slightly surprised to discover that, unlike the stories she heard –she had to erase an entire history of comic bands, modern romantic and tragically bloody novels and urban legends and folklore myths- he indeed _had_ a beating heart, but unlike her own one, his sounded more like a swift precise steady Swiss clock and the rate was maddening fast.

Though, its pumping was like a joyful lullaby and she marveled at how amazing was his snow white skin feel under her fingertips, as she slowly let her fingers stroll down the ample valley of his rippling pectorals to his sculpted delicious abs. He was so soft and warm and she got chills inside her belly at the contact. "I have...never touched a man before." She hummed honestly.

Sasuke said absolutely nothing, but his mind was spinning like a windmill. Her touch was soft as at the first timid snowflakes in December and she burned him. His muscles stiffened under the elegant touch of her fingertips and her unmatched delicacy fascinated him.

Her frail purity was akin to a polished clear crystal, her innocent smile was jovial and radiant and their light was mirrored by the flickering gleaming emerald from her eyes. She was so unthinkably beautiful, that Sasuke found it an irony of destiny how the grace of a simple mortal has shadowed the jewel of the vampire women`s most seductive charms.

While the other female vampire were having a striking flawless glass doll`s unblemished features, Sakura`s untouched beauty was shocking him with her apparent simplicity and his trained eye for detail haven't missed the way nature has put its most masterfully print on the finesse and elegance touching her petal rose cheeks and pastel ivory porcelain skin.

She was so goddamn beautiful and for the first time in his existence, Sasuke has been truly fascinated by someone. A girl who wanted to take away her life, has crossed paths with him in one moment of fortunate synchronization.

It was pure fate`s hand the one who pushed Sasuke out of that party`s doors, sick and tired of drinking and having lascivious women grind on his body, touching him hotly and boldly, trying to get their ticket to a passionate night with him, or at least a sensual wet kiss, because has he been one second later, listening to Naruto`s drunks howlers and calls, Death would have taken her away from him and they would have never met.

The fact that he refused to empty the contents of his half full scotch glass, the tearing burning need to drink warm sweet human blood determining him to detach the dead drunk brunette woman`s clumsy hands from his shirt and push her away off him, before he pressed his fangs down her neck and do something he refused to, the first two stairs he tripped on and almost kissed the ground, if not for his inhuman fast reflexes, the red lights he avoided by taking another route to his home, the need to cool off his mind and feel the salty ocean breeze, tingling his sweaty temples, coaxing him to cross the arched long bridge, instead of the metro station, were all small coincidences which led to him get to meet Sakura.

Sasuke half shut his onyx eyes, getting dizzy from the way his every cell reacted to the feel of her on his skin, while she was carefully feeling every line, angle and swell of his iron steel muscles, sneaking his right hand around her waist, pressing his broad half covered upper body on her warm palm and gluing his lips on her earlobe where he planted a chaste kiss, growling hotly into her ear.

"Sakura." Her name rippling from his lips was pure nectar to her hearing, all adding to the irresistible fascination of his baritone deep voice.

She tilted her head and darted her emerald orbs from his breathtaking torso, to his onyx eyes, gulping once to alleviate a lump resting on her throat, licking her lips ones, feeling her skin crawl in anticipation of both the pain and an unexplainable strange pleasure when she saw his white canines gleam like diamonds. "I want to feel first."

He nodded once, understanding what she meant by that, while Sakura let curiosity to lead her hand to his handsome face and appetizing fine lips, tentatively pressing the tip of her index finger on his right pearl white sharp fine fang, reticent at first, not knowing what to expect from the sensation.

Her fear started to roll down her spine when she felt the sting of his razor blade canine on her fingertip, thinking about how bad would that puncture her soft sensitive skin when he would dig into her pulse.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was having huge problems in stopping himself from biting her when the most sensitive part of his mouth –his vampire teeth- came in contact with fresh hot flesh- but he couldn't stop from wrapping his long slick tongue around her digit, taking a long lick of her slim finger, tasting her skin on the tip of his tongue.

She felt like Godly nectar. Every fiber of his being was itching to touch her, taste her, feel her, have her close to him, inside him, over him, on his skin, down his mind, anything.

Sakura on the other hand, was barely keeping her composure, while her skin was trembling and her stomach felt queasy. A stunning half naked man was holding her waist, pressing their bodies so sinfully addictive together and the moment was intimate, hot and erotic.

The fascination of him being a vampire –such a dark embodiment of desire and thrilling danger- was sending jolts rolling down her belly, resting in between the crevice between her squeezed tight legs, making her grow wet.

"I am scared." She confessed, while her soft voice hasn't gone beyond a whisper, when Sasuke cocked his head, pressing his cashmere soft lips on her neck, fanning his hot mint over her pulse, planting soft kisses along her neck, occasionally suckling on her skin, flickering his tongue over the reddened skin, making her breath short moans in pleasure.

"Don't be. I won't make anything unpleasant to you, I promise."

Sasuke assured her, while his lips tattooed chaste butterfly kisses all over her neck, collarbone, coming back to the fine line of her jaw, letting his tongue trail wet lines of warm saliva over her pumping vein, while his other hand, which was not wrapped firmly around her waist, lifted towards her check, caressing her tenderly, occasionally brushing his fingers through her scalp, twirling locks of her silk hair around his finger, playing into her hair.

Although, he refrained from touching her in any shameful and sexual way and that was why Sakura felt her head went clouded, her vision glassy and foggy, and her body`s temperature grow in a nanosecond.

He promised he won't harm her and that included taking advantage of her naivety and aroused state to taint her modesty, so Sasuke wouldn't do anything to her, even if he would have loved to have her in his bed, squirming under him, begging for mercy while he rocked her and hear her scream his name to that round full arrogant moon.

"Oh!" She was startled by the feeling of his tongue and lips waltzing on her jaw chin and neck. He was averting her attention from the place she anticipated he would attack trying to cease away her preconceptions and the imminent scent of any sort of pain which she thought it would follow.

Also he knew what he was doing to her body. What he has intentionally refrained from telling her, was the fact that usually after a vampire drunk the blood of a human or occasionally another vampire, the lust and the sparkles of floating chemistry always lead to _sexual intercourse_ , simply because the hormones and the senses were sent into a windmill of sensations, sending the bodies into fire.

He didn't plan on sleeping with her when he came to the proposal, feeling his knees started to quiver and muscles to get stiff and ach, being extremely weak, so that was not among his first priorities. But he wouldn't say no to her if Sakura would desire to have him. Out of the countless women he slept with, she was the first one to make his interest sparkle, beyond physical needs.

When he pressed one more last kiss on her neck, he dropped his voice dangerously and sensually low whispering to her. "Relax. This is going to be really _good_."

"O-okay."

He traced his tongue to moisten her silk petal rose skin, almost regretting to having to make his mark on her and blemish it and as swift as a cobra with the same fine precision, he pressed his razor-shaped fangs down her pulse, until the luscious polished tip of the pearl white canines penetrated the throbbing artery, protruding through her soft skin, coming in contact with her warm blood and he growled lowly and darkly, while his chest rumbled.

Not even in his wildest fantasies, would have Sasuke imagined someone to taste so heavenly, like the sweetest peaches and cherries nectar and it was blissful. His left hand was stroking her cheek, caressing her face, while the fine rivulets of blood were rolling down his sharp stinging teeth.

The tip of his slick hot tongue was pressed upon her skin. An imperceptible venom like translucent liquid was leaking down his teeth, produced by his sublingual glands, in a similar way a snake would use to numb its prey, numbing down her pain completely.

When he assured her that it will not hurt in the bit, Sasuke hasn't been lying. In fact, by the way a dragged erotic feminine mewl escaped past her parted lips, he knew for certain that she was clearly enjoying the unexpected whole new arousing sensation.

In fact he didn't quite have the idea of how exactly she felt. "Mmmnnn…" There were stars twinkling under her fluttering eyelashes and her body was magnetizing with a numbing pleasurable sensation. She felt her inner walls throb, her heart was running madly into her pumping chest, her skin was tingling, burning and crawling in delight and waves of euphoria were spilling from the hot pool in the pits of her stomach, to the core of her most intimate regions.

Sakura was _beyond_ aroused by how it felt, and the fact that Sasuke`s carved God like body was pressed upon her, making her get shivers down her spine at the overwhelming warmth he was radiating, penetrating his every pore, was only accelerating the sensation.

She could vaguely hear her own blood leak down his throat, yet she started to lose the contact with the outside world, while her dizzy mind was focused all on Sasuke. His scent was an alluring intoxicating mixture between salty ocean water, icy storm and burned sandalwood and rain forest, his lips were most pampering than pure cashmere and the low pitched throaty dark growl rippling from his vibrating chest has been insanely sexy.

He was damn hot and shockingly enough, Sakura didn't want him to stop doing what he did. Due to his word, it felt amazing! That was so intimate, she felt so close to him and it was uber erotic. Her quivering hands slide along his neck, folding around his neck, while Sasuke was losing the fight in favor of his pure vampire carnal lust, desire and cravings.

Up until then, such red salty vital liquid has been denied to him, and he was oblivious to it. If only he has met Sakura earlier, he would have feasted from the supreme sweet red blood; she was absolutely ravishing, her blood was richer than exquisite red wine and most syrupy than wild cherries.

The addicted midnight haired Uchiha vampire swore he lost his mind. He felt everything about her and he craved for each part of her. Her unique own feminine floral white lily and roses scent was making his own blood shot into his hardened bulge down his pants, while his all muscles were vibrating with an amazing uplifting energy that he hasn't felt in ages.

She was making every part of him come to life and little did he know that even if he was suckling the life out of her, with each drop of blood leaving her body. The rose haired woman never felt so many sensations washing through her trembling body, but it was marvelous.

Back on Sasuke's shut down mind, there was a tiny voice bumping at his conscience's doors, begging to be heard, screaming at him to stop before he really killed her. It was the frightening thought of losing her and being her murderer the thing that made him clench his strong sharp jaw and stop himself on time, feeling the girl going dizzy and barely standing. The only thing that prevented her from dropping down her knees, was his firm strong secure hold on her.

Her small limp hands were having a loose hold around his neck, while her fingers where entangled into the silk midnight locks from his nape and she was reminding him of his mother`s tender play into his hair, to soothe him.

Forest green orbs fluttered opened while she was lazily looking at him, smiling softly, while she looked exhausted and slightly panting. "Y-Your e-eyes…are red!" In his briskness to satiate his thirst for blood, Sasuke has totally overlooked the fact that his eyes were blazing of the same color, as his Sharingan was giving his onyx irises the peculiar shape of a star, spinning. "I like them."

Sasuke would have expected for her to be frightened by him, but stating that she found them pleasant was something that took him by surprise. A warm hand touched his left temple, while he tightened his hold around her back and shoulder, keeping her pressed into his body and the affectionate intimacy startled both of them.

"Where have you been hiding from me for so long?" His velvet rich sensual masculine voice was lulling her into sleep, adding to the fact that she has lost God only knew how much blood, yet there was no pain and no uncomfortable feeling.

In fact, she has never felt so cared for and if those were to be her last moments, then she had nothing to regret. "I know you are dizzy. Don't worry about it, it is only temporary, until your level of minerals stabilizes and you eat something."

As if on cue, the doorbell rung twice and Sasuke knew that it was the familiar distinctive code of his favorite restaurant`s catering service. "The food has been delivered." Not wasting anymore time, Sasuke scooped her into his arms easily, seeing that she was light as a dove`s wing, strolling to the kitchen, carefully letting her go.

When her bare feet touched the floor, she almost fell if not for Sasuke`s hand wrapped around her arm preventing her from doing so. She put a hand on the round white table, standing on the chair, feeling nauseous and dizzy.

She blinked rapidly to make her foggy doubled vision clear, while Sasuke opened the door and paid for the food, allowing her a moment alone to get a hold of herself. She wished he didn't because somehow she didn't want to be alone. Not in that moment.

He was back before she had the chance to get panicked, not knowing what to expect next. She brushed her fingers over her pulse, amazed to not feel any sort of discomfort, apart from a tiny tingling sensation and no trace of blood, only two holes no larger than what a fine needle of a shot could do.

"My saliva numbs the pain and stops the blood from leaking." Forest green eyes followed Sasuke`s tall slim silhouette approaching her, placing two bags on the table in front of her, unwrapping the boxes. The fragrance of warm fresh food entered her nostrils and her mouth watered.

So that was the reason why on the exterior, one could have hardly deduced that something was indeed wrong with her. "This…I was disgusted at first but it wasn't bad at all. It felt great." She admitted, while her lace like soft pearl white cheeks blushed like a red rose in bloom. But she was honest with him. "How do _I_ t-taste? For a vampire, I mean."

To her surprise he slightly frowned, dragging the chair beside her, placing what looked like roast beef meat, with a delicious looking tomato sauce. "You are not a piece of meat. It is not entirely about your blood. Do not think for a moment that I am using you like a disposable object. Every part of you feels….divine."

The onyx eyed Uchiha blurted casually, while he used his slick tongue to lick his lower lips one then rolled over his getting normal again canines where fine lines of her blood were, but he was so sensual that it made her inner walls throb and she was startled by the sensation.

Sakura could easily tell that, comparing to the way he looked when they met some couples of hours ago, Sasuke looked way better and less sick. If possible, he was looking stronger and more handsome.

There was something that Sasuke knew all too well, coming to his mind the moment he saw the rose haired girl, who went as far as to let him drink from her blood, even if he has been a stranger she has only met, without too much complain, barely touching the food in front of her.

The exchange of body fluids with a vampire would give her strength. A vampire's saliva was full of nutrients helping them when they didn't find food and for a mortal they were ambrosia. Of course that it applied to _other_ means of exchanging fluids, making love including.

He was sorry for her, since the young emerald eyed rosette was already being poorly fed, underweight and skinny, but not hideous. "I can do something to help you quickly recover. A vampire body`s life force is really powerful and beneficent for humans."

Sasuke briefed her, while the jade eyed woman`s eyes darted from the pasta she was trying to wrap around her fork, without success, to his pitch sapphire black ones, curious of what he had to say. "There is something really simple you have to do, actually."

"Me?" She raised her fine eyebrows at him, managing to take a bit of pasta, barely preventing herself from moaning at the feel of such a delicious food into her mouth. She has never eaten something so good. "What exactly?"

He actually smirked at the emerald eyed woman`s inquiry, leaning towards her and slipped his finger under her chin bringing her one breath away from his over her face breath, whispering the words that made Sakura drop the fork into her plate, while her jade orbs went wide as two full moons. " _Kiss_ me."

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

The steady clicks of his polished elegant Italian shoes were tapping over the luscious floor, while his impossibly tall, slender outline was passing the mahogany and oak doors of the long narrow honey illuminated corridor, strolling towards the very last room, with the heavy doors covered in black leather.

A white envelope with a golden seal was resting in his left hand, while the other pushed the door open, after a polite knock, letting himself into the airy huge office. The sight of an enormous terracotta office chair, half turned towards the blazing sparkling chimney and a strong hand wrapped into a bloody red and navy blue silk traditional kimono, holding a crystal glass flute into his fingers, welcomed him.

"Father." The snow grey-ebony haired young handsome man greeted on his low flat polite lace like alto voice, getting the attention of the said man, who in return, spun his chair lazily around, scowling at the sight of the person who was resembling him like two drops of the same ocean. "Mother has told me you were in your office."

"Itachi. Your visit is unexpected." Uchiha Fugaku`s callous low dark voice echoed to the vast office, while the onyx eyes of his older son's staring right back into their perfect replica, haven't even blinked. He wasn't in the bit terrified or impressed by the commending had tone of his father.

"I assure you father that I am not here to nourish your suspicion. It is my foolish little brother`s actions the one you should be cautious of." The older of the Uchiha brothers injected, while he stretched his hand and threw the white envelope down his father`s office, right under his nose.

While his silk alto voice was stoic, smooth and impassive, Fugaku could sense a hint of venom dripped from the son who refused to be his successor, defying him and his clan. If anything, the animosity lingering in between the two Uchiha blood relatives transcended decades and the hate only made the rift between them deepen.

"What is the meaning of this?" The current leader of the Uchiha clan inquired sternly, not even dipping his head down, only letting his orbs flicker towards the white envelope, scowling.

"I have been informed that three hours ago, Sasuke has stopped a girl from jumping off the _Onaruto Bridge_ and left together with the same person." Itachi informed his father, who in return hasn't even pulled a muscle. Surely enough his runaway older son hasn't come to his home uninvited just to gossip about Sasuke`s private life or rebel behavior, because if he did, then Fugaku was more than ready to not so politely invite him to go to Hell.

"And what does this have to do with me?"

"The answer is inside the envelope. Have a look."

Even though Fugaku would have never taken orders from anyone, let alone Itachi, he complied, slipping his fingers into the blank envelope, flickering his thumb over the golden seal. There was a photo inside which revealed the portrait of a person that the Vampire Leader would have never wished to see again, other than six feet under.

Gripping the luscious color photograph until the thin paper crinkled under the pressure, Fugaku`s stoic ebony eyes turned livid blood, while the fearsome Sharingan spun like a watermill filled by his scorching hatred towards the smug self-centered defying grin flashing back to him, from the picture. "What is the meaning of _this_?"

And Itachi`s answer did nothing to tame down Fugaku`s blazing urge to head to his other son`s place and handle the problem by himself, without bringing the urgent problem into the members of the _Great Vampires Council_ `s attention. "They are related."

"For this one time son, I agree with you. We have a problem." Fugaku growled to his calm and collected older son, slowly rising from his chair, shadowing the large ebony office desk with his impressive menacing frame, pressing the speed dial key on his phone.

"Are you going to summon _them_ for a meeting?" Itachi inquired, already knowing that his little brother has managed to get a sharp scythe to hang above his family`s heads and…he inwardly smirked. Sasuke didn't want to be played like a soulless and helpless brainless puppet and manipulated from the shadows, just like Itachi refused to. And that was the reason why he supported Sasuke, even though he did his job as a committed son to his family.

"For us the vampire to never be threatened by the vampire hunters again," Fugaku locked his flaming infuriated gaze with his son`s annoyingly placid one, his low baritone menacing voice dripping with venom, determination palpable into his obvious threat. " _This_ girl must _die_."

.

.


	2. Paint my lips in the color of your kiss

**CHAPTER II: You have painted my** _lips_ **in the color of your** _kiss_ **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

' **At the gates of** _eternity_ **, who is the sinner knocking so intently? It is your fire or is it my own desire for you?**

 **What is this dainty emotion I feel whenever your heart beats upon my palm inside your chest?**

 **Can I see you smile with those alluring eyes of yours, while you talk about immortality?**

 **If our joined hearts reach ineffable and we overcome the barrier of time, letting us**

 **be guided by the limbs of time into an universe where we can succumb into a love with no boundaries,**

 **Would you still be there to guide my every step?**

 **I am hearing your calling, your lips know all but one celestial whisper and that is**

 **my name, just as my eyes can only see your silhouette,**

 **burned inside my mind, dancing under my fingertips,**

 **When our hearts connect, our bodies play one symphony of love, wriggle and molding upon one another,**

 **until our skin, our minds, our souls, our breaths, or hearts` ticks**

 **until we...become...one breath.**

 _Forever_ **.'**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

"Kiss me." Sasuke breathed seductively to her in his peculiar low dark velvet voice that made her heart shudder in delight and her breath got stuck down her throat. Shimmering green garnet hues went wide as the sun`s halo, while her ticking heart was pounding down her chest like a pendulum` s swings in the embrace of time.

He couldn't have possibly said what she thought he did, could he? If anything, from the very first time her emerald stunned incredulous orbs set on his handsome alluring onyx ones, she learned that Sasuke was hardly a pervert or someone of a low morals and no principles or respect. A player he might have been since that dark mysterious vampire with rebel locks and vivid bottomless orbs were just as breathtakingly looking as a majestic rainbow arched over a crystalline waterfall, but she knew that he wouldn't take advantage of a woman in her situation.

His fine flawless manners, his general demeanor and the way he rolled cultivated words out of his mouth and kept his temper in check with the easiness of a proud raven on its flight, all screamed education, finesse, eloquence and deep cultivation.

Nonetheless, it knocked the wind out of her pipe, since she didn't ever think that any man would offer to share such an intimate experience with her, not to mention that there was something strange flickering into his unique beautiful jet ink orbs that she couldn't pinpoint, yet it was coming close enough to anticipation. Her heart wasn't betraying her. "W-What? K-Kiss…why?"

While million possible logical explanation were whirling down Sakura`s brain, trying to produce a figment of a possible drive that would urge the handsome Vampire Prince to be willing to claim her lips, said man simply jerked his shoulders and shrugged indifferently, his smooth voice betraying nothing of how he truly felt. "Because this is the easiest way for us to exchange body fluids. The other two would probably be even more uncomfortable for you."

There was no way for Sasuke to miss one certain emotion glowing inside the rosy haired woman`s golden viridian orbs, since he was keeping her gaze locked into an endless mesmerizing loop with his ink jet hypnotizing eyes, and that was disappointment, as well as a contradiction of a heartbreaking anticipation.

Even if she wasn't probably aware of what she was feeling for him and why, her consciousness was screaming at her to get attention and be heard. She _wanted_ him even if she was probably trying to come in terms with her womanly fascination for him. His immediate motive was to alleviate her pain as much as he could.

Sasuke was not one to torture the other livings, be it fellow vampires or humans, as vulnerable creatures and brothers of the same quintessence. He was ruthless when times called for it, he could kill in a heartbeat without shedding a single tear, a drop of sweat or any emotion surging down his spine, but he never took sadistic pleasures from cries of pain.

Moreover, the woman in front of him wasn't valuing her own life, nor did she seem to mind whatever happened to her, meaning she was offering her own vital liquid in exchange of a crazy and probably unreachable emotion, even if she had no idea if she would ever get it or if it would last a second or a lifetime.

She knew all of it, but she didn't care. She trusted him with her own life, literarily and she willingly arched her neck and clung to him, while he pierced her skin, entered her mind, her soul, her very life, feeding from her very person. She even moaned at his hot touch.

And that was why pleasure in exchange for her nectar sweet amazing blood, was a little price to pay and he would gladly do that for her, but Sasuke would have never seen it coming that she would be disappointed to find out that he wished to connect their lips for _another_ reason.

"O-Other two? Which would those be?" Her voice was silent and soft as a morning spring breeze and it was crystal clear that she was trying to divert her attention and focus on the flow of their conversation, even going as far as to be willing to explore another possibility.

"Well, I assume that you aren't so eager to drink from my blood. In fact, I wouldn't quite recommend that unless…" The onyx eyed Uchiha vampire trailed, and Sakura followed the way his broad shoulders stiffened briefly and his words seemed to be frozen on his lips, yet his hard steel smoldering orbs did not give anything away.

His rather collect, calm, confident and graceful demeanor changed for a secretive, introvert and unexpectedly demure one, like he almost had a slip of his tongue, but got a hold of his train of thoughts on the last moment, deciding not to reveal something he shoulder or didn't want to.

For that particular reason, Sakura decided that she shouldn't stubbornly pursue a topic which would create a drift between them, even before a bond had the chance to root and connect them in whatever way it could.

Meanwhile, Sasuke swore he has been shot by an electrical bolt, discharging down his column and making his toes and heels go on fire. A sudden unexplainable reminiscent memory has been triggered into his sensibility, like a phantom of a past he has been trying to lock inside a nest and throw the key in the bottomless sea, wanting nothing more but forget.

 _Something_ similar has happened into his past and it changed everything. _Something_ he didn't want to ever remember, but he has been cursed to have that vivid nightmare playing over and over again, keeping him trapped into the past and present altogether.

Sakura`s weary tender nightingale hum brought the midnight haired Uchiha back into his living room, snatching his wandering mind from the endless loop of his past and making him pay attention to her question.

"-unless what?" She innocently inquired, while whirling her pasta around the fork, eating and swallowing slowly, savoring her food and his words. He wouldn't blame her sudden increasing interest in finding out more of his world, since she probably felt out of place and lost into a parallel universe which was yet to be strapped by its entire secret.

"Unless fate proves me I was right and going against my family makes it worth it." Sasuke answered cryptically, refusing to go into more details. He would have liked to share that piece of information with her as well, but for some odd reasons, he stopped before telling her that if a mortal would feed from a vampire`s blood, slowly she would start to lose her human imprint and get more entrapped into his world and if she did that when dying or when in the verge of dying, she would obtain immortality, thus be tuned into a vampire.

And it was exactly the thing she wanted to escape: her life. She wanted to die, so naturally Sakura would refuse a bond based on immortality. If anything, someone who wanted nothing more than to sacrifice her life while dreaming to Paradise, would never be fitted to turn around and step on the path of sin, no matter the hand which would be intertwined with hers and walk along.

"What about the other one?" The young woman with the most candid forest green orbs asked, when seeing that Sasuke was avoiding the topic. What he didn't know was that her heart rate was escalading with each passing moment and his silence was only adding to the low pitched pounding in her ears or her staccato unruly pulse, afraid not to win his disdain instead of his trust and maybe friendship.

"Have you ever been with a man?" Sasuke found himself blurting before he had the chance to ponder his words and chose another approach, but upon seeing that the rosette`s eyes budge out of their sockets, and her cheeks fill with the blazing color of his favorite food, he couldn't help but smirk, having the confirmation of her innocence right before his smirking features . He knew that she was pure as snow, untouched by anyone before and he was ready to bet all his money that she hasn't even had her first lip lock. "Then I suppose you aren't too eager to sleep with me either. So your safest and easiest way is to kiss me."

"N-No…" Sakura felt her knees tremble like jellyfishes out of salty waters and she was sure that her heart would abandon its chest, trembling like a guitar string when she heard the words that came out of Sasuke`s mouth, so she averted her emerald orbs, by cast her head down taking him by surprise once again.

A set of perfectly shaped fine raven eyebrows furrowed when he heard her whispering to him words that he has never been met with before. It was his first time when a woman was _refusing_ to kiss him or having any sort of physical contact with him, the answer obvious.

Women all over would always throw themselves at him, begging for attention, for any of his smirks, for a sensual touch of his precise skillful hands, or a maddening contact with his firm moist smooth lips, and that included both human or vampire females.

Yes, that young woman who was a no one for the rest of the society, proved to have a backbone and solid principles, not being willing to succumb into her race`s innate temptations and fight desire, lust and carnal drivings, with ambition, modesty and virtue.

"I don't mean to be more arrogant than my usual self, but I find your reluctance intriguing. May I ask what your reason is?" Despite his apparently impervious laid-back lace like tone, Sasuke was anything but invulnerable to her soft-spoken coy refusal.

Something aroused inside the hollow of his chest, sending a shot through his mechanical inner clock, which played as his diligent numb heart, at the idea of that woman with the essence of a cherry blossom`s grace and pallor entrapped into her wavy locks wanting nothing _else_ from him but to live the last of her remaining days in tumult and glamour.

Sure, he was also getting a tremendously huge advantage from her, she being the one who gave more than she would get, but still it didn't sit right with a principled man with virtuous and non-impartial judgment as Sasuke to solely use her as a concubine, or someone to share the bed in lieu to allowing him to nourish from her petite body.

It was too disgusting to digest, even for a powerful vampire with burning desires and a virility sparkling inside him like electricity during a thunder storm. His unfathomable deep black eyes were beaming like heated charcoals, while set entirely on Sakura, trying to figure it out why it was letting it to get to him so much.

Even if it might not be that obvious for a shallow untrained eye, Sasuke was not fancying using women as his bedmates or manipulating them into presenting a distorted advantage to them, in return of something he needed, even if his sharp cunning imaginative mind could come up with the most idyllic scenario to present. Maybe he did it on a whim, in the haste of saving the lady from her own inner demon and twisted ideas the fact that he came up with such an odd offer, but suddenly he didn't want her to just be his next…dinner, or lunch, or breakfast.

What the _hell_? Suddenly, his burning intense and unbearable glance turned incredibly curious and insightful. What was Sakura`s epitome of learning how to be elated fi she was to seek that emotion from a stranger? How was she intending to touch jubilance and be upbeat without getting personal and ultimately _intimate_ with him?

She wasn't a stupid woman at all, in fact, she was one of the most intuitive and perspicacious females he ever had the pleasure of meeting and that was not entirely a bad thing. If anything, Sakura had the eloquence and weapons to elegantly turn the tables on in her favor and remain sober and level-headed.

"Even though I have never been in love…I know that a kiss is meant to be shared with the one you have… _f-feelings_ for. I hardly see how this can be _our_ case." Her soft low-key gentle tone came as fine silk to his attentive ears and her humble chastity was tangible. And her philosophic deep overview of feelings and touches shared between a woman and a man, were doubled by integrity and modesty. Her honesty was sparkling into her viridian beaming orbs, yet Sasuke couldn't tear his onyx orbs off the subtle cute hint of pastel rose blush tinting her cheeks when she told him her definition of a kiss.

Upon sensing that he was somehow taken aback by her hushed confession, Sakura quickly sought for his onyx orbs, stuttering and becoming all too apologetic for being so sincere. If anything, the rosette didn't want to offend him, nor did she want to be disrespectful and ungrateful for his generous and unexpected offer. "B-But please do not misunderstand me. I am very grateful to you for giving me this chance and for this one thing, you have my honest appreciativeness." There was a brief pause during which she let her emerald orbs search for something stirring into his onyx ones, but found out that she couldn't decipher anything inside, so she dipped her chin down, playing with the food from her plate. "Nothing more…" She muttered, while trying to fight back the strange feeling she had into her belly.

There was an odd feeling of swirling sensations mixing inside her, making her both queasy and anxious, when she realized that her detachment towards the stunning mysterious Uchiha`s demeanor hasn't been in perfect harmonization with what her heart was truly desired.

Why was she getting the feeling that what she has asked of him hasn't been all that simple and superficial? Heck, the rosette was aware of the fact that she hasn't asked for a loan or a pair of new shoes. _Emotions_ , be it humans` or vampires`, were details that made the spirit upbeat and lifted it up in the sky, ultimately dominating the entire universe.

Everything around was ruled by feelings, be it negative or exuberant, so how could a perceptive woman like her be that oblivious to the tremendous implications of her unusual request? Sasuke has been dead serious when he has accepted to try and make her alert to how euphoria tasted, so should she just _allow_ him more inside and wrap the strings of her heart around his lean fingers, to lead her to the most supreme human emotion and the ultimate goal?

"If you want to be happy, then you should learn how to open up your heart first." Her emerald orbs flew up to meet his bottomless black sapphire ones, boring into her like, wrapping her into a velvet mantle of sensual spell bounding, not believing how easy was it for him to read her heart, like an open scroll, written in an ancient language, in ink, for only him to understand.

"To what?" Sakura shot back to him, not wanting to give him the impression of being in the presence of a weak woman, who was not able to understand the implications of her words. If she wished to understand more about Sasuke, hence allow him to take a peek inside her heart too and mend the shattered pieces of glass, it was imperative to see the underneath of his words.

"To anything you wish. No one can teach you what to like or hate. This is for you to experience, taste, touch, feel and then decide." Unexpectedly, Sasuke graced her view with a ghost of a smirk that had an interesting effect on her skin, making her experience pleasurable shudders all along her limbs and spine whenever he did that. "You, the mortal ones, have _something_ to help you discover the gentlest of emotions. It is a blessing that has been given to you at birth."

"I don't understand."

Ever so gentle, the beautiful raven haired vampire, brought his palm upon her chest, right above her left breast, in the place where her erratic heart was thumping, yet he avoided touching her in any improper way. She looks at him with a puzzled expression and briefly blushed, upon feeling the contact with his tender touch on her skin. "M-My _heart_ …? I don't understand."

"Just like a swift precise clock, it has only been beating when you were anxious and sorrowful, alerting you that something bad is going to happen. Am I right?"

"Yes."

"It doesn't have to be like this. When you will find something to connect to, this is going to burst out your ribcage. When that emotion will hit you, it is going to make you fly. Like a pair of wings." Sakura said absolutely nothing, silently listening and trying to absorb the things he was saying, like a sponge. If anything, she still had difficulties in getting used to Sasuke`s poetic way of emphasizing universal facts, talking in a way that no other man did, simply because he was _no_ other man. It was becoming more and more obvious to her the deep gap between their worlds, starting with the simplest most superficial things, such as language or manners. "This is _your_ own fairytale to live, so why be the pauper, when you can be the princess of the castle and glow?"

Sakura was both stunned and enchanted by his sense and sensibility. Sasuke wasn't the type to strike as a man to breed such profound feelings; on the contrary, he radiated an overwhelming impressive steel like power and masculinity. Yet, there was grace, tact and nobility in every step he took and manner of speaking. "I don't know how a fairytale should look like." Sakura simply admitted, while trying her best to not let his velvet words envelop around her heart and give in to his charms. "Up until now, my life has been a living nightmare which never ended."

If only Sasuke knew how much she has suffered from her foster family`s abuse, the emerald eyed beauty inwardly added. Not only she has struggled in poverty, but she also had to suffer rejection and pity of her classmates and teachers altogether. They avoided her presence like plague, refused to talk to her if not absolutely necessary, they threw her distasteful insipid glances and their abhorrent demeanor towards her has crushed her spirit.

She then came to realize that the human race was as superficial as a scratch on the skin could be, since it was in their nature to judge appearances and never go deeper than surface, or try to penetrate the walls around the heart and discover the lines written on the sepia pages.

And that was another thing that Sakura understood about vampires. They saw behind the masks and had the insight to easily break the barrier of facades and unravel the hidden hearts. Just like Sasuke did. He didn't care that she was clad in baggy tramp clothes and wanted to jump off a bridge, deciding to walk past and not care.

He even went as far as to state that he found her delicious and beautiful, touching her, caressing her and whispering things that only a Charming Prince would, which was not entirely far from the truth. Sakura still found it mind blowing to discover that not only there was another race living among people, which was far superior in terms of strength, intellect and manners, but she was entangled with their leader`s son.

It was enough to make the hair at the back of anyone`s nape to stand and to fuel any woman`s darkest and wildest fantasy.

"Then what if someone comes and wakes you up?"

"Can you do this?"

"I do."

The jade eyed girl was surprised to see the beautiful dark man beside her make promises with such a nonchalance, being dead serious and stoic, not leaving any room for interpretation, but she appreciated him for being a man of his words. "Because you have promised to do so?" She smartly injected, but her intelligent corner has been rewarded with a small smirk coming from Sasuke`s part.

"I am a man of my words. Even if you know nothing about me now, you will come to learn it pretty quickly. That is…if you play your part as well." His slim lean digits stretched towards her, stroking her swan neck gingerly and fondly, while she suppressed a shudder.

"I g-gave you my word." She breathed, while her eyelids fluttered, searching for his onyx gleaming orbs, trying to get used to the feeling of someone fondling her skin, but he was not looking into her eyes, rather than following the skim of his fingertips waltzing on her smooth skin, like he was imagining the contour of her every fiber. "You can count on me." She whispered, while her quivering voice betrayed the feelings he stirred inside her.

"I know."

"Tell me about you." The rosette changed the subject, deciding to find out as many things as she could regarding Sasuke and his new world.

He, of course expected her to bombard him with all sorts of questions, so he let go of her face –he saw her emerald orbs sink down her plate when he did it, like she wished for him to caress her more- and took another sip of his wine, waiting patiently for her to surprise him. "What is there you would like to know?"

"I don't know. Anything you can say, I guess. Something I can relate to, after all, we don't know each other at all, do we?"

A small smirk rose on his lips, before connecting to the rim of the glass, savoring his drink. The mighty Prince of the Uchiha family knew that if he was to ask for Sakura`s blood, it automatically implied sharing parts of his secrets with her, hence establishing a level of trust, so he was willing to let her know some things about vampires. After all, he was one of the partisans of creating a world where humans and vampires would coexist in peace, without feeling threatened or reticent in accepting each other. Just like his honey kissed haired idiot of a best friend said, they could only bond when understanding each other`s pain. "No, we don't. Ask something and I shall tell you."

"I don't intend to write a thesis on vampires while I am here with you, but there is something I have always wondered. You are immortal right?"

"If you are talking about the fact that us the vampires do not age, then yes." He swiftly answered while Sakura let the information to sink in. Inwardly, Sasuke wanted to laugh at her innocent question. Let the human legends fly out of her mouth and nurture her fantasies. All the stories bragged about vampires being the creatures of the night and the wielders of eternity, but things were _far_ from being so idyllic.

There were many sacrifices coming along on the path of infinity and obtaining immortality, which she didn't have to know, simply because she wouldn't understand what was the implication of never perishing, while living in an ephemeral world. Moreover ,Sakura was one of those who wished to die and align to those who passed into nothingness, so she would probably reject that aspect of a vampire`s life.

If only she knew how was it to be the immortal witness of a crumbling world, being the one to always move on…all _alone_ …

"How old are you?" Sakura found herself blurting and Sasuke understood why she was so eager to know such an unimportant mere thing about him. She was looking for a leverage. A bridge to connect her world to his own, so she naturally started her eager quest into his new world, from his mortal side.

"I have been born on 23th July 1055 AD. You do the math." He couldn't held back his amused smirk while Sakura`s shimmering curious emerald orbs went wide as saucers, upon realized how old he truly was. Sure, it was pretty much for her to grasp the fact that vampires were actually real, so naturally any information dropped to her would come as a shocker. But she was good in not gasping like she was drowning into salty waters, trying her best to maintain some composure, but she was visibly taken by surprise.

"W-Whoa! You are so old!" The thing that thro Sakura into an infinite loop of wonder and stupefaction was the fact that logic didn't apply when it came to the stunning Uchiha in front of her, because he definitely looked so young, compared to his age and a blush rose on her cheeks when she realized that his keen intelligent entertained onyx hues read right her thoughts, line by line. "I-I m-mean…for your age, n-not for the way y-you look…"She blabbered mindlessly, and fix the cute mistake. "Don't worry, you look good for your age." When she realized that Sasuke was looking at her in a funny way, having one eyebrow curled up and his fork half raised to his mouth, she sank into the chair. "That was a stupid thing to say. Sorry."

In all honesty, it was ages since Sasuke found someone being so entertaining while being natural and hopelessly sincere, while trying not to offend him and he couldn't help but chuckle darkly at her, while Sakura felt something funny stir inside her stomach, making her innards vibrate with an upbeat emotion. It was the first time she has witnessed him being amused and it was so sexy that it should be illegal for a man like him to laugh. "If you inquired about my age, then it is just fair to know about you as well. How old? You must be in your twenties, if I am not mistaken."

"21 to be more precise." Sakura answered, suddenly feeling so small, yet there was something about Sasuke that made her not feel uncomfortable or bad around him, even though he was definitely out of her reach and more intangible than a priceless painting of a reputed painter, in a famous museum. "So much for the age gape." The rose haired woman silently wondered why wasn't she feeling bothered about that, but she guessed that it was probably because of his looks and mentality. He wasn't acting like a time traveller from the past, trying to adapt to the new all too evolving society. In fact, he was acting just like any ordinary teenager, except for the incredibly gorgeous looks, flawless upbringing and eloquence. "You could be a mummy. A very…." Sakura more than wanted to say _hot_ but decided against it since she didn't want to appear lascivious and unmannered.

But she wouldn't deny that she found him irresistible sexy and that was an understatement. There were no proper words or human standards to properly and fairly praise him for his beauty. He was absolutely gorgeous, yet he wasn't acting superior and presumptuous on purpose, to put her in a difficult situation and an inferior position and that was a thing she appreciated. Among the others.

"Hm? What type?" Unbeknownst to him, Sasuke stated to enjoy his conversation with that strange woman who was savoring the catered food, like she has never tasted anything more elating –he was sure she hasn't- and he couldn't help but feel something _familiar_ about her. And it didn't have to do entirely with the fact that she has let him taste her blood, though that helped to form a connection which went beyond physical perception. "I could take it as an insult, you know?" He dropped his voice two octaves, giving his velvet baritone a darker, yet richer hint, but he didn't want to sound menacing. He only managed to sound more erotic and sensual.

Sakura shook her head while her rose hair whirled around her shoulders, like a gentle bride`s veil. She looked like the embodiment of nature bloom in spring. "Just forget it." She didn't want to be coaxed into admitting how fascinating she found him to be, so she changed her approach, before having the chance to make a complete fool of herself. "Tell me about…the world of vampires. Your world, as you stated. You aren't the only vampire here, are you?"

"Of course not. The world of vampires is just as numerous, if not more numerous than your human world. We basically _coexist_ in the same time, space and live our lives without you to know we are here." He started, while Sakura was registering his words and make connections, overlapping Sasuke`s confession to the information she got about vampires, filling in the plot holes with relevant data. She quickly came to the conclusion that she knew absolutely _nothing_ about vampires. "Of course, you are all oblivious, because all of _us_ are sworn to secrecy."

"So…who else knows about you? Because I find it hard to believe that you only told me, since logically that would have put a tremendous burden over my shoulders and you would have to eventually…put me into silence quickly to protect yourself and your…vampire friends."

Sasuke liked her logic and didn't intend to hide it from the rosette. "Beautiful and smart. Someone like you should be their President. Yes, your suspicion is correct. In fact, your world leaders, army, Governments and the most important organizations know of us, either ways it would have degenerated into a global conflict for power. Something akin to an alien invasion, as you would call it. A war with the vampires would have been pointless and foolish."

"Why is that?"

"You do _not_ have the power to fight _us_. We can crush you without breaking a sweat." She grew frightened when she realized that Sasuke was right. While people were constantly alarmed by the rising of the pollution, the imminent threats of nuclear weapons and wars, they had no idea that there was another more astonishing civilization among them, having the power to turn them into ashes in a blink of an eye, depending on their whims and beliefs.

It was like living with a gun glued on her temple and a finger on the trigger, without even being aware of the imminent smell of death and that made her skin shudder in consternation. She could have been surrounded by vampires, lurking from the shadows, chasing after her silhouette when she wandered through the darkened streets or parks, without being aware of the danger.

Of course, her dread hasn't gone unnoticed by Sasuke and he felt sorry and ashamed of her justified fright. He knew that it was all because of the outrageous behavior of some of his vampire brothers and family members, but he couldn't help it. The only thing he could do was to try his best to live like a mortal and blend with them, thus creating an invisible bond and eradicate the tremendous differences between them. "Something we want to avoid. Your disappearance from this world would benefit to none of us. We are not pro violence. Well…most of us, myself included."

"Yet…you drink _human_ blood."

"This is a very sensitive topic which is not to be treated carelessly. We do not actually need human blood to survive, like you might have seen in shallow movies or exaggerated literature. Those are just to create a certain distorted image of horror and darkness around the world of vampires. People are attracted to blood and violence and take pleasure out of it, up to a certain degree."

"Because we are uninformed."

"Because it _sells_ , and they are ruled by money and only seek profit, exploiting a brand which is popular. I will no put the blame on them, this is how the world goes by." Sasuke made a brief pause, trying to find the rightful words, while Sakura smartly hasn't interrupted him. She knew that he was not ash nor violent, because even if he was hurt and on the verge of collapsing, he had an amazing self-control.

He came to her rescue, when he was weakened and in need for her blood, yet he hasn't touched her before asking for approval, even if he could easily overpower her and take advantage of the fact that she wanted to kill herself. He didn't. Moreover, he went as far as to show deeper empathy and mercy than a human being. While a random person would have walked past her, not bothering to inquire about what her distress was or offer her a hand, a vampire did the unthinkable and prevented her from throwing herself in the claws of Death.

He resumed his explanation and even if he easily made his tone sound impartial, offering her an objective perspective of a vampire`s ideology and mentality, there was a hint of empathy into his words, all set on his disagreement of sacrificing a life in favor of his urges. "Human blood is valuable to us the vampires, because it has something that we do not have."

"What is this thing that we have?" Out of reflex, Sakura patted her neck with her unoccupied hand, skimming the fingers over her neck aimlessly, while Sasuke`s charcoal orbs followed her like trying to decipher the mindless pattern, reading her consciousness'` language. "Our blood…?

"What is the _opposite_ of immortality to you, Sakura? You must have come up with an answer, since you were ready to give it up, haven't you?" He wisely challenged and Sakura found herself at loss of what to say. She always fancied dead as the safest and easiest escape route. While embracing Death, she would finally be free to be herself and have what she has always been denied, as a living and that was exactly what she has asked from Sasuke: happiness.

Truth to be told, the rosette didn't go into such metaphysical inquiry of the details that pushed her into following an imminent end and she suddenly found herself to be very stupid and narrow minded. What if she had no idea of what was on the other side? What if dying would be the reward of the things she managed to accomplish in her previous existence, instead of putting an end to the suffering it brought?

Plus, there was another question that aroused into her mind and that was related to Sasuke`s condition and hers. She couldn't help but voice it out. "The opposite of…we are _mortals_. Our lives are bound to _end_ sometime and then, when we _die_ …" She let the information sink in then looked at Sasuke with a beam in her orbs, like she slowly came to realize that life and death were far more abstract than she superficially treated them.

"…you realize that you actually do _not_ fade away, but start your new journey as _immortals_. Only the body dies, but the spirit follows its normal path and that is leaving the decaying carcasses behind and step out of time. But…as much as we fancy to think that our spirits spread free from the bodies we leave behind, means the supreme liberation of our confinements, then we are all fools, because there is another more precious thing that we also leave behind." While the things he said were perfectly rational and profound, Sakura couldn't help but feel a figment of a lingering trace of melancholy into Sasuke`s tone but she couldn't place it anywhere.

"Something _precious_? What can be more valuable than obtaining immortality and escape this…suffering as an unimportant powerless person?"

"Your life force. It is imprinted in your blood, it is the very essence of the human kind…you be born with it, this is the gift that has been passed down to you from your ancestors. Human`s blood is powerful, thus can increase a vampire`s powers and invigorate every fiber of our beings. We might have _obtained_ immortality, but we _lost_ humanity."

Even if for Sasuke and his brethren, blood was more precious than polished diamonds, Sakura on the other hand didn't seem to be that impressed, for she mumbled under her breath. "It is not entirely a privilege…" She couldn't care less whether she possessed something valuable for vampires or not, because for her, it was the start of all the troubles. If she wouldn't have been born into that world, by a selfish woman who abandoned her at the gates of despair, she wouldn't have suffered.

Her philosophy was just as simple. Yet she couldn't deny the fact that Sasuke`s view over life was interesting. Not having friends to hang with or at least someone close to talk to and confide, the jade eyed woman loved to take lazy long walks and meditate at the simplest of wonders, but never has it stricken to her that becoming amaranthine didn't mean dying as a whole, in both body and spirit, just as eternity wasn't the _negation_ of bereavement.

She came to realize that a vampire couldn't fully get the gift of becoming incessant, with no connection to his former life, in the same manner as a child was always bound to his mother after his birth. And that thought alone was unsettling and frightening. If humans were to disappear, the kings of darkness would perish as well and that would be simply because ephemerality _supported_ eternity.

So to put it simply, vampires needed humans, just like a mortal`s destiny was to free himself from the limbs of time and become one with the evergreen universe at some point in life, but what was truly fascinating was the fact that she, along with her race, weren't bound to turn into vampires. According to Sasuke, Elysium was just as utopic as the fascination for mythology was, because once dead, humans became nothing.

Which was in contradiction with who he was and that stirred her curiosity and made more questions arise. If a human was bound to perish like a rotten leaf in autumn, while the wind would wipe away the last dust of his memory, then how come creatures –like vampires- who were once clearly human, living, breathing and feeding like mortals, existed and how did they manage to cheat the Grim Reaper and obtain immortality?

"What? Why not? Isn't it what humans always sought to discover? How to live forever?"

"What about you? What do you think about living forever, Sakura?"

"I…for me…it would mean that I cannot even have this way out. Living forever means that I am bound to suffer for eternity, which is…the scariest thing. The most horrid nightmare." She whispered almost being on the verge of tears, since talking about her childhood and teenage days triggered very unpleasant and painful memories, which was exactly the thing she wanted to run from. Since she has thwarted her emerald orbs from his onyx ones, fluttering her eyelashes so as to prevent them from moistening, she missed to see Sasuke`s own onyx ones shut for a moment, when grasping the words she was trying to say and the message she was trying to convey. "It is the same as being in _Hell_ , without even dying first."

Unapprehend to her, the rosette understood the fundamental of Sasuke`s own distress as a vampire, as well as the _curse_ they were all forced to bear upon their shoulders from the beginning of time until the end of it. "I-It is the same for…" She trailed, drifting her jade orbs from the flickering crystal glass candelabra to Sasuke`s jet ink gleaming silvery ones.

"What is the use of having wisdom come to us, as we silently witness the world changing as we are defying time with the same easiness and arrogance as we defy gravity and our bodies never experience the noblesse of aging or getting wrinkles, but…"

"…but what?"

She was startled again by the way he let his knuckles skirr along her jawline, tenderly, lovingly, seeming deep in thoughts, while his suave soft voice melted her heart like hot caramel and made it miss a beat. "But…what is there to wait for you…as the time passes you by and takes everything away?"

It was the first time since their encounter when Sakura actually felt the reverberation of a suppressed melancholy into Sasuke`s rich baritone voice and it took her by surprise, not expecting it. There was a palpable lachrymose emotion dancing into his beautiful black pearl eyes which she couldn't place, yet Sakura had the unsettling feeling of empathy, like she was somehow meant to affinity with his odd mental struggle, to some degree.

"…" Even if she wished to say something intelligent and prove him that she was not completely overwhelmed by the universal truth she came to learn from him, no words were slipping past Sakura`s lips. The mere thought of withstanding a continuous existence in extreme agony, suffering, depression and sadness, being all alone, with only the shadow to play as the silent witness of one`s inner turmoil, was impossible to understand. So that was precisely the reason why Sakura found herself breathing to the raven haired man beside her. "Did you ever _die_ Sasuke? How did you become a vampire? Don't you have a way to let it go and just…" Her unvoiced were diverted to what she almost did, if not for him to come and stop her.

If there was something that Sakura got familiar with, was the fact that Sasuke and his world of creatures of the night, which lusted for blood and immortality, were immortal, hence lived forever, but she couldn't help wondering if they too could wish for that burden to end and commit suicide in the same manner? Because that would be utterly unfair.

He ignored her last statement because he didn't want the conversation to drift into another direction, already seeing that the beautiful angelic rosette was struggling to comprehend the implication and the extent of his words. But he was willing to tell her about who exactly he was, because by all means, Sasuke didn't want her to live under the impression that he was a drunkard delinquent vampire, with a fucked up social life and imbecile crazy friends. "I am a member of the Uchiha family, which is by all means one of the few remaining pure blood vampire clans. Their _heir_ and soon to be _Leader_ , to be more precise."

"A Prince?" Sakura remembered what he said and followed closely how the midnight haired man`s forehead wrinkled and a ghost of a frown appeared. She guessed that it might have been the way he said it, but Sasuke quickly answered her unvoiced question.

"If you like, though I avoid using such old fashioned appellative, yes. I have been born with the blood of a vampire running through my veins, along with all my family –the clan, like they like to name themselves- astonishing powers. But, just like all the vampires out there, I inherited the body of a mortal from my mother." He simply informed her like he was discussing the weekly forecast, with no affinity towards the title alleged.

"So you were an…immortal spirit trapped in the body of a mortal, right?"

"To cut long story short, that`s right."

"This is awful!" Jade eyes went ablaze and for a moment Sasuke couldn't help but wonder at the way she had golden irises like the desert, even though they were filled with horror and compassion. "To have the acknowledge that you have the possibility of living for eternity, but your body is not able to support such life force!"

To her, it was the lucid realization of being on the verge of half dying and half being damned to straggle like a spectrum for eternity, being dematerialized and losing the contact with your frame, hence not being able to touch or feel the things that once were within your reach.

Just as having his spirit rise from its grave, seeing the sorrowful beloved ones grieve, without being able to touch their weeping faces and brush away those tears. It was heartbreaking and that consternation made her skin cover in cold shivers.

Of course that Sasuke knew exactly what horrifying things were washing through her skull, yet he simply nodded in confirmation. A short sudden bolt of sadness akin to torment toddled on his handsome face, but it was gone before Sakura had the chance to read what was crossing his mind at the moment, He was good in hiding his inner from the word, Sakura concluded. "Things are not that simple. For a mortal, when he comes of age, he gets all the rights and obligations of and adult, meaning he has the responsibility of his actions, right?"

"Of course."

"For a vampire on the other hand, it means that from there on out, his powers become almost complete and the unique abilities of his family`s bloodline limits start to take a toll on the body which eventually will start to fail his purpose. A mortal`s much weaker and unprepared frame is unable to sustain such a tremendous amount of energy. Call it our curse: one cannot have both mortality and immortality."

"You have to choose between one and another." Sakura yearned for the confirmation and he blinked once in response. She was quick to understand what he was talking about, for which he was grateful. Last thing that Sasuke wished for was to deal with a dumb narrow minded depressive woman who couldn't understand how the world went by. He didn't have the patience for that. "But…how? Your mortal body will always die, yet your spirit is bound to roam forever. So it only means that you have to find a way to make your body immortal!" Her stunning forest green orbs beamed with intelligence and Sasuke found himself being more and more engulfed and drown into those pools of evergreen of hers, letting his stare linger on them longer and longer, with each passing moment they talked.

He actually found it in him to smirk at her, liking the seductive amalgamation of confusion and timidity playing on her face whenever he did that. "I knew it from the very beginning," Sasuke started, making sure that his voice came a tad lower than normal, just to test her reaction, which was fast as the speed of light. "That you were different from the others." He was honestly stunned by her intelligence. That was definitely not a stupid woman. She was only a negativist and tended to take everything to extremes, but a dummy she was not. And he liked that. "Exactly."

"For me to become the man you see today…I had to die once." Her jade orbs flew open in consternation, definitely not expecting him to say such a thing. "To be more precise, my mortal body had to die once for that to happen." It was one of the painful truths in a vampire`s existence and Sasuke disclosed that to her.

"S-So y-you are…" The pastel pink girl looked at Sasuke in a weird way, suddenly remembering the feeling of his skin under her fingertips, the warmth radiating from those hard rock muscles and how incredibly soft he was and immediately her heart was beating faster than normal. "…b-but you are…just like me…?"

Memories flood through his brain, along with all the suffering and everything that he had to put up with, but she didn't see it on his exterior, because Sasuke was the embodiment of a beautiful statue, unable to portray emotions. He was way past those years but they were still haunting his dreams. That was one of the reasons why he almost never slept, but busied himself with studying or occasionally spending time with his friends. "There is a very complex process of being reborn as a vampire, which you probably won't believe anyways and it is not necessary for you to know. Point is, from the moment you turn 21 as a human, there is a matter of time before your body will start to rot from the inside out and you will eventually need to be turned into a vampire."

"Since I doubt that all of you are of the same age, I suppose it doesn't happen at the same time for all of you, right?"

"No, of course not. It depends on many factors, but the most important one is how strong you are as a vampire and how bad it would affect your body. The younger you are as a vampire, the stronger you are, which is kind of ironic, but not illogical. Sure, there are also exceptions, when the apogee of the powers only manifested later on and on a whole other level, but those are rare cases. It happened in my family as well, starting from the founder of our clan."

"So…what was the age you…died as a human?" Sakura eagerly inquired, glad that there was something substantial for her to hang on and better understand. Up until then, Sasuke was an entire enigma. He belonged to a world that she knew nothing about, nor was it reminiscent to her own and that thought alone made it hard for her to relate to him.

"I was 25." Sasuke answered the rosette, smirked when he saw her face illuminate like she was sighing because they had something to connect and that was something tangible for her. A number she could place in her own world, either ways he was something far too superior and mysterious. "You seem relieved. Is it because you felt as if in the company of an old man?"

"…yeah. Honestly, I feel better now that I know that you are actually four years older, but not because of an unimportant number. This is less than nothing to me. It is just that you are so different from me, that it scares me. So I think I just need something I can relate to…be it something as stupid as your _age_."

"Do not feel sorry for being human, Sakura." The Uchiha cocked his head on the side, gazing at the woman in front from behind his soft raven locks falling sensually on his temples and cheeks, letting his intense onyx orbs travel from her mesmerizing eyes to her luscious lips. "It might not be such a bad thing."

"What has changed then? What made your body stay this young forever?"

"Truth to be told, this is the key and the secret within the need for human blood. Once your last heartbeat has thumped on a soon to be vampire, his body dies. Then, the life-force running through his veins takes over and does the rest, meaning fueling the breathless body with a vampire`s quintessence and so we obtain immortality." He tapped his elbow on the table, and opens his palm in front of his scrutinizing darkened eyes, eying his left wrist, while slowly opening and clasping his fingers, like wanting to feel his pulse pumping inside his veins. "From that moment on, the body will never decay, nor will it age. But we lost the life within. Just like a frozen red rose…we can entrap the beauty and its delicacy for eternity, but we cannot capture his very life in the ice. Inside, we are… _numb_. Lifeless."

"But you have feelings. And your heart…" Sakura looked down his chiseled chest, imagining the place of his heart under the clothes he wore, and unconsciously placed a hand on hers, feeling that its pace was faster and unruly. "…I felt-"

"-That was not a heartbeat, Sakura. It is just…like a _mechanism_. Something to help the flow of our own version of blood run through our body and nourish it. This is why human blood is like Ambrosia for us, the vampires. It gives us what we _lost_."

She almost wanted to cry when the realization of Sasuke's stoic words got to her, and her emerald orbs shone in enlightenment. They were almost bound to be incapable of feeling anything and the memories of happiness, elation, euphoria and love were only the ones they had from when they were half human. A vampire had no feelings. They only had physical beauty and their charms stood in their mind blowing elegance, precision, dexterity, cultivation, etiquette and dark sinfully appealing swift behavior. On the inside, it was exactly the opposite. They had nothing and it was then when the rose haired woman understood what it was like for them to be losing the human side. She whispered to the onyx eyed vampire, not knowing how to approach the topic without making him feel offended by her. "….humanity. My blood…but you are stronger than I am."

"Think about it. How is nature on spring when everything breaths with life? It is still the same nature with the same trees which stood still during winter, but…they _glow_. They shine in the sun and they are _stronger_.  Vitality flows through them. Your blood makes me stronger Sakura. It adds to the force I have been given from the day I was born. No one knows exactly how strong can a vampire become when constantly feeding from human blood, so to avoid a riot and a carnage to come, we have come to a compromise with the humans: _stop_ feeding from it. Never attack people and never haunt them down like animals."

Slowly but surely, as his explanation went into the depths of exploring a vampire`s real destiny and way of living, Sasuke`s orbs turned into a deeper shade of smoldering ebony and he grew stern and serious, his velvet voice losing its spectacular hint of playfulness. "Never forget how we started…who we were before becoming what we are now." His words were meant to emphasize the fact that he was once human. "Of course, there are many vampires who transgress the rules and feed from human blood. Some are obsessed with obtaining the supreme power and continue to hunt. Terrorize. Impale their sacred code, kill the morals they have and stain their fangs with innocent blood."

"…t-that is so hor-"

"It _disgusts_ me." He spat in abhorrence, dripping venom, but Sakura relaxed understanding that he wasn't mad at her, but at the vampires` behavior and their choice of conduct. "This is like giving in to the lowest form of the one you tried to escape from as a vampire. Whoever succumbs to such primal carnal urges cannot be considered a vampire, or a human. They are the lowest _scum_. A disgrace to the vampire race."

Sakura didn't feel frighten to be in Sasuke`s presence anymore, even if she wasn't being reluctant to approach him or trust him, since she didn't care whether she died or lived and every perception about the stunning man with the hair that challenged the night in silkiness and fascinating beauty has changed. Uchiha Sasuke acted like a human as much as he could, flawlessly passing as a mortal, even though he was clearly a vampire. "This sounds too idyllic to be true. What about you then? Aren't you one of the ones w-who seek f-for…power? Because you want to drink from my blood?"

"I am afraid that things are not that simple as we want them to be. Even if I vowed to myself that I will respect a life…I am still a _vampire_ , and this is something that is out of my control. From time to time, I still need that life force running through your human blood, either way I will eventually become too weak to even move. This is one of the darkest sides of being a vampire. A sin we all have to shoulder. Some are able to control this need longer than the others. Some do not. It depends on each vampire."

"What about you? How long can you go without human blood?" What Sakura truly wished to know was how many times he would need to puncture her neck and use her as his own personal custom bottle of fresh hot red wine.

Of course that Sasuke understood what her concern was and that made something flickered inside his chest, clasping around his heart. But what he didn't know was the fact that a good part of Sakura eagerly _anticipated_ the moment he would do that again, finding it to be an experience close enough to Nirvana.

The jade eyed woman swore she would gladly let him do that again right that instant if he wished to do so, just to recreate part of those memories and trigger _that_ feeling again. Her whole body charged with the fire of the universe and for a moment, her senses exploded like two colliding galaxies, sending star dust over her electrified perception.

It was nothing like she has ever experienced, not to mention undeniably incredibly erotic and sensual, yet far from lewd, libidinous and lascivious. No, how he made her feel has transcended pure carnal lust and went higher into transversing pure erotica and passion.

"There is something you need to know for me to answer that. Since there is this agreement between the two of us, you will soon meet my… _acquaintances_. They are also vampires, with two exceptions. For us to form a strong bond of trust and security, you have to know that one of them also comes from a very prominent wealthy clan of aristocrat vampires, just like me, and his family is strongly opposing to drinking human blood. They developed special _blood pills_ with a similar effect and taste as human blood, by mixing drops of human blood they take from the blood banks of private clinics of hospitals` divisions, with a special substance. They soon become viral among the partisans of the same ideology as theirs, myself included."

"So you take those pills to control the need to drink human blood, right?"

"Yes. Some certain food also helps. I am sure you have an idea of what type of food." He lowered his eyes on his plate, silently inviting her to contemplate and reach her own conclusions, and she did just as so.

"Tomatoes? You like them." She smiled softly, finding it quite funny that half of his food consisted in those simple fruits, yet he was savoring them with utter elegance.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at her and it wasn't because of her remark but because her beauty was out of that world when she actually smiled so charmingly. And there was always a cute blush rising on her face when she did so. If anything, the rosette was truly a bud soon to be bloomed. "They are my favorite. There is also roast beef, carrot juice, strawberries, but this is more delightful and popular among lady vampires, cherries, and our favorite beverage," he raised his cup sipping from it and she followed the tantalizing way his lips were touching the smooth polished glass, sipping once. "red wine." The onyx eyed vampire stretched his hand towards the bottle of said beverage, then held it in front of Sakura, silently inviting her to have a look. She stroked the vintage looking tag and let her fingers brush over the golden carved letters and the neat writing, studying it intently with a newfound fascination. It was beautiful.

"France`s finest jewel and their pride, _Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Romanee-Conti Grand Cru, Cote de Nuits_. Made from at least 85 per cent _Pinot Noir_ grapes." Sasuke briefed her, while Sakura felt something stir inside her belly when she realized that she was actually touching something so fine, delectable, which probably tasted like Heaven and not to mention expensive, for the first time in her life, while Sasuke lifted another shining crystal glass, taking the bottle from her, angling it towards the glass flute, elegantly letting the liquid fill half of it, offering it to the surprised rose beautiful angel woman. "Here. Let`s share this experience, shall we?" She gently took it from Sasuke and for a moment, she couldn't suppress the pleasurable tingles down her spine when her fingers tapped his own, staying there more than necessary not wanting to slip it from her inexperienced fingers.

Sasuke on the other hand, had one single intention and that was to feel her velvet skin sliding on his own, stealing one more little intimate moment together with her. His kittenish stare trailed from their joined hands on the glass, to her coy blush and appetizing eyes.

"Thank you." She brought the fine glass to her lips, totally intended to taste a part of that magnetizing vampire`s world, when he stopped her with a mild sheer hold of her wrist, not wanting her to bump her nose on the rim of the glass.

"Slow down." He gently bid and she stopped, blushing lightly, feeling really stupid and bad for her lack of experience. Sasuke might have been a vampire, but she felt like in the presence of an insanely rich businessman or an ambassador and she was a beggar or his servant. "First, by gently shaking the glass, and making the wine swirling, you will measure the consistency and the color. This step is crucial to determine whether it is going to be thicker or sweeter, depending on the type." He instructed, while elegantly demonstrating he with his own glass.

Sakura mirrored his move, but she looked more like a rushed housewife whipping the cream or the eggs for the mayo. Sasuke on the other hand remained calm and serious, not laughing like some juvenile teenager. "The next equally crucial step is smelling the wine. This will tell you the type and the taste of the wine obtained from fermentation of the grapes. For instance, you will be able to tell Pinot Noir from Pinot Merrier."

She wanted to tell him that _he_ would be able, because _she_ didn't even have an idea of what the heck did that mean. She only knew of cheap beers that his father drank and those were hardly something she would have loved to smell. But when she sniffled the aroma of Sasuke`s fine wine, her mind filled with images of seductive red and dark velvet, rivers of chocolate and marble skin molding sensually over the exquisite material. She even felt poetic and had the sudden urge to speak French, if only she knew how to.

"Then, our favorite part of it, sipping it. Be careful not to take large gulps. This is not water you take to swallow unpleasant pills. Swirl it into your mouth, take your time into savoring it properly and feel the texture, the sweetness, the weight and so on. Try to unravel its story." The rosette simply couldn't tear her orbs from the onyx eyed exquisite vampire, when he brought It to his fine lips and did just he said. Of course, she had no idea of what happened into his mouth, but that thought alone made her feel few degrees hotter. The room for imagination was vast when it came to a wild, rebel, sexy men like Sasuke, for any woman, herself included. The only thing that made it obvious for her that he has drunk from his glass, was his Adam Apple bobbling up and down when he let it leak down his throat.

God he was irresistibly _sexy_ when he did it and the fact that he was a _vampire_ only fueled the darkest fantasies that she didn't thought she had. Somehow, he was bringing to light parts of her that she didn't know they existed within her reluctant and shy mind.

And Sakura felt connected to him just like he said, when she also did what he told her, but she was more obvious. It was pure Heaven, true to his word. She let out an almost inaudible moan in delight when all her senses have been invaded by the exquisite bouquet caressing her senses and coating her mouth and tongue with a nectar sweet and rich taste. "This is amazing!"

Sasuke only side smirked to her. Unbeknownst to her, she was so mesmerizing in all her innocent clumsy shyness and he couldn't tear his orbs from her, just like she keenly chased his every meticulous move, with her epodic forest green orbs. "I am no expert but I can bet that this is very expensive." She looked at him with an apologetically look on her suddenly lost face. "Am I right?"

If anything, Sasuke didn't like to brag about his money. That was something material, hardly important and only came to him naturally. Humans were obsessed with it, because they brought them power and a false impression and overshadow of the real value. So was his father in his view. Money flamed their reputation and he could negotiate with the Governments and the other vampire families as equals. Being the leaders automatically meant being better than both humans and vampires, which logically led to having a luxury life with wealth and money. "It does."

"If you don't mind me asking…where do you get your money from? Because even I can tell that you are rich. What is your profession?"

"What do I strike like?" The vampire Prince cocked his head teasingly, while some delicate raven locks fell tantalizingly on his high marble regal cheeks and the corner of his equally smoldering hues. "Just do not say anything related to selling garlic or grave diggers."

"Hm…the obvious and most logical thing that first comes to my mind would be either a successful businessman or a politician. But I realize that you are more _enigmatic_ than I would be tempted to believe, so I would also try a lawyer, a doctor or an economist."

Upon hearing her response, Sasuke found himself be once again marveled at how good she was at reading the people. "With a deep insight like that, there is no wonder that you have caught my eye." The reaction of the emerald eyed beauty was immediate, for she blushed at his comment, simply because no one called her smart or acknowledged her wisdom before. "You only got half of the answer right. I am, in fact, attending college and also work in my father`s company, as his Vice-President and the legal advisor. I am studying law and economics."

"From the way you speak about life and people in general…" She nibbled her lower lip, just to prevent a goofy smile to take over and looked at him. "…I am not surprised to find out that you like _justice_. Law suits you. And I am sure you have the brilliance of an economist."

"Are you trying to flatter me?"

"I am just being honest with you." The heir of the Uchiha clan nodded once smirking down at her. He also observed that when he did it, she started to blush, smile and avert her orbs more often. His effect on her was being visible. "But…you go to a normal college? Or is there one entirely for vampires?" That was one funny thought, because it would totally match the manga vampire stories she sometimes read.

"It is a regular one. No one there knows we are not human, with the exception of the Principal. Hatake Kakashi is…" At that, Sasuke grew silent for a moment, like he was pondering the most proper way to describe the mysterious man, then started to talked again. "…someone who seeks for peace and encourages us to blend in and live among people."

"Sounds good, I suppose. To have someone on your side, that is." Sakura reasoned, taking another sip of wine and a bit of food. Her stomach was sending her its gratefulness. She was starting to recover her strength, though she was tired. She saw on the sun shaped wall clock that it was past midnight. Sasuke on the other hand looked like he has just risen from the bed and showered, being all refreshed and invigorated.

"…it is." He was acting reluctant over something that she couldn't understand and she found it suspicions. "I am going to take you with me." Upon hearing Sasuke`s statement, a pair of fine rose eyebrows have been brought together, while getting confused.

Sasuke explained everything to her in two words that stole her breath away and made her heart beat faster. "To college." She stiffened her shoulders and looked into his orbs testing if he told the truth, scouting it into his beautiful onyx eyes, seeking for any trace of mockeries.

"…a-are you serious? C-Can I…" She cast her eyes down to her chest while a huge smile crept on her lips. "…go to _college_? This is…"

"Have you finished high school?" She knew that Sasuke elegantly and subtly asked her whether she was literate, not wanted to offend her. "Though this hardly actually counts." He added like going to college was a breeze. It might have been for someone like him, she deduced, but that did nothing to make something else bloom into her chest.

"I have finished high school, yes. " Not having any reason to not come clean in front of Sasuke, the jade eyed girl told him the truth, but he could clearly see the reluctance and the sadness washing off her candid forest green orbs, reading the anguish and the misery inside her soul. "With much difficulty, yet…I graduated top of my class." Her statement was nowhere near her willingness to didn't brag about her school records, but a mellow cute attempt to try and cut the huge obvious gap between them. "I have always wanted to make it to college…" Her dreamy hopeful and somehow chimerical tone took Sasuke by surprise. "…I used to have this dream."

If anything, he wouldn't have anticipated the fact that she from all the people would fancy continuing with her studies, if there were many other things she could do to try and live life at its fullest. But he quickly came into terms with the fact that not only Sakura was not an inconsiderable woman with trifling aspirations or preference for trivial things, so it was only natural for her to be submerged into philosophy and erudition.

Could she become anymore of a chimeric fascination? If someone was to catch a glimpse of Sasuke`s conversation with that stranger girl, with the most vivid hair color ever, he would be gaping at how out of his character he was acting.

By any means, that particular Uchiha was the perfect epitome of his family`s reputed steel like behavior and impenetrable stoicism, so he hardly engaged someone in a conversation or talked more than necessary and never words of encouragement or endearment. But that night, he seemed to have been willing to break down more of his own set barriers than he thought.

And frankly, Sasuke didn't mind it at all. Sure, Sakura was one big enigma, along with her desire to end up her life in a miserable way and her zeal to ruminate about things that weren't of her understanding, just like she was carefully pondering every question she had about his world.

He liked someone that was capable of such a deep philosophy over life, death and eternity, even if their worlds clashed just like their convictions. Plus…there was something else about that girl, which was knocking at the doors of his conscience, triggering unwanted memories of a certain part of his life, that he was desperately trying to overcome –he did up to a point- but unlike then, she was being more absorbed into being faithful, rightful and virtuous.

Her beauty was also out of that world, even barely clad in dirty cheap clothes, she was basically glowing like the moon and her delicacy, mixed with the clumsiness and the way she acted like a child in a candy shop, was adding to the allurement.

"Then why did you want to give it up and not right for him?" The Uchiha smartly inquired, while the rosette knew that he meant choosing suicide over fighting for her dream and turn the hands of destiny from utopic to reality.

"…it is hard alone." Sakura whispered and she has totally missed the way Sasuke`s ebony eyes widen slightly because she was trying to focus on the chandelier in front of her, seeing right through the flickering dainty graceful flames of the candles. He knew exactly how was it to felt alone, but she didn't know. It was because he, just like her, had no one to walk beside him or spend eternity with him. His hand froze on his fork and knife and his shoulders stiffened.

She was speaking his mind she was connecting to him more than they connected through blood. Could she feel his mind as well like he read her? There was no mystery that when a vampire drank from someone else`s blood, they were bound to form an intangible link that went beyond physical perception, but he didn't fully know the extent of it, since it clearly depended on the two parties.

"What do you want to study? What is your dream Sakura?"

She took whole two good minutes to voice out her beliefs over life and dreams in general, but her answer hasn't stunned him in the slightest. "To _die_." She told him simply without faltering or having any remorse or second thoughts. He also observed that when speaking about suicide, Sakura tended to become dematerialized and speak mechanically, like she has been chanting it over and over again prior of actually doing it, probably trying to convince herself that it was for the best and it was out on her own free choice, even if on the inside she didn't actually want to do it.

He narrowed his orbs and slipped his hand under her jaw cupping her check and elevated her chin to him, not liking the way she was so eager to leave that world. _Leave him_. "Dying is _not_ a desire for the future, it is the crushing of a dream. Those who die, cannot accomplish anything."

Sakura was talking about having dreams, yet she wanted to die, which was in absolute contradiction and that made him suspicions and intrigued. Her beliefs and her actions didn't match.

"A _medic_. I want to become a doctor." He was stunned. A doctor! Someone who wanted to take her own life wanted to _save_ other ones. She was selfless and her self-sacrifice was something he came to appreciate. Humans tended to be self-centered, arrogant, conceited and too engulfed into their own persona to think about the others, yet she was totally out of their league and ontology.

And he simply couldn't fight back those thoughts from flooding his mind and Sasuke found himself taken back in time, thinking about her, in comparison to Sakura. Someone who was once a lover, soon becoming his fiancé…A very _special_ she who was supposed to become a vampire, but she chose _death_ instead, not wanting to spend an eternity with him, and he called her selfish even if he loved her. He lost trust in women ever since, yet he was not absurd. Sakura would choose their happiness in lieu for her own in a heartbeat and that was where the difference stood.

That was why he was starting to feel more and more _attracted_ to that rosette, and it definitely went beyond blood. Though he would be a fool not to admit that the rosette`s was sweeter than… _hers._

"Then I will talk to Kakashi and let you attend the med school starting from Monday."

Oblivious to what exactly went wrong into Sasuke`s life, Sakura found herself almost on the verge of crying, but unlike many other times when tears were mending her inner pain to the physical suffering inflicted by the others, those were carrying on a vibrant delicate emotion which rooted from the depths of her heart. "…t-thank you…" It took all she had not to weep at him like a widow in front of her husband`s grave, biting back a sob. Heck, she wanted to throw herself at him, hug him tight and kiss-

She stopped there, feeling that her mind was slipping into other unexplored universes, ready to give in into his charms, and do as he instructed. Oh God, she _wanted_ to kiss him and see how was it like to be kissed –by him- but she was reluctant to get even more intimate with him, afraid that it would degenerate.

She still wished to die after experiencing happiness, so getting more involved would automatically lead to dramas. If anything, she didn't want to _hurt_ Sasuke or toy with his feelings, even if she wouldn't dare to think that he would ever like her or, in a more utopian scenario, _fall in love_ with her. That would be selfish, cruel and she wasn't like that.

By all means, he was a benefactor with an odd request, but still someone who hasn't hurt her in any way and was treating her like she fantasized in her wildest dreams. Like a Princess.

 _Like someone who matters._

"I said I will show you how to live. But for me to do so, you need to also help yourself. Find something important to you, something dear, something you love, for it to make you want to live in order to accomplish it. A dream for the future…that is living."

She nodded at him. And couldn't help but smile. For someone who had eternity in the palm of his hand, Sasuke had a seductive wisdom and insight about life and living and she couldn't help but fall for such a subtle wisdom and intelligence. He was the most fascinating man she has ever encountered.

 _And the most handsome_ , her inner added with a wicked grin, which Sakura simply ignored.

"Can a vampire die?" She didn't actually wanted to ask him this, but it burst out of her mouth before she had the chance to stop and she saw his hand froze before the fork connected to his lips, blinking twice, while his onyx orbs betrayed nothing, and nor did his stoic façade. He didn't answer for a good whole minute and Sakura suddenly felt like slapping herself in the next century for her misled, thinking sadly that he was angry yet he surprised her, shrugged indifferently.

"Technically no, we do not die like you do. But they can be annihilated, yes. Do not think of garlic, crucifixes and so, those are dumb stories. We even have our own vampire jokes and tell them during Balls and parties and laugh at the idiocy around them."

She didn't ask how seeing that he didn't tell her probably taking a safety measure. It was only correct. He also hasn't told her of the reign of the vampire hunters. Also, Sasuke knew that it was way past midnight and she started to yawn and stretch more frequently, so he decided to call it a day. Both of them ate all the food anyways. She was the first one to dig in and stuff her face with more than half of it, which he was glad for.

Heaven forbids he wanted to starve the skinny woman to death. That was definitely not in his intention when he brought her to his home.

Then she asked something that made him froze when taking the plate to sink, wanting to let her go into her room and get a good sleep. "Do you have a family? Do you have someone beside your father?" The reaction was surprising and immediate. He grew colder, the pleasant warm and friendly atmosphere around turned thick and tense, instead of joining her on the table like he did, talking and being opened to her, unraveling secrets that she hasn't even dreamed of, he went to the huge glass wall, glued his forehead on the cool surface and bent a hand over his head leaning forward.

His voice was still velvet rich and calm yet she saw is body language. "If you refer to my mother and father, then yes. They live on the other side of the town, in Sharingan." Sakura wasn't stupid. _Sharingan_ was a high class neighborhood were only the richest lived. It was no wonder. "My older brother Itachi lives separately with his fiancé."

"W-why aren't you live with them?"

He took longer to respond and Sakura realized that it was definitely a topic that he wasn't comfortable with. She also observed that he didn't have any photos of his relatives in his apartment, beside the modern fancy expensive abstract paintings or landscapes. He might have had some in his room, but she wouldn't know. "Our _ideologies_ clash. I don't want to argue with them. I have bought this place to start living upon my principles."

"You…chose to separate from your parents for _independency_?" She didn't have parents and didn't understand why would anyone choose to alienate out of his own free accord. Sure, she also know from the others that a teenager's dreams often collided with the portents' ideologies, but it was simply because of the generations gap, so she guessed that compromise was the key there.

Apparently, something far deeper and more serious went into the notorious Uchiha family of vampires.

"I do not want to be controlled." Sasuke also added, but he talked so softly that she would have missed it if she wasn't all ears and eyes on his broad back, bent over the huge window glass. She wished she could see the reflection of his handsome face reflecting in the mirror, but she couldn't because he had his forehead pressed on his forearm.

They went silent for a while and Sakura didn't know whether she should ask or not and he didn't inquire for her own family for he didn't want to trigger those horrid images. He cut her train of thoughts, before she got the chance to inquire further. "It`s late." His velvet voice turned flat and detached once again Sakura knew that it was a sign to drop the subject.

She got upright from her chair, taking her plate and advancing to the sink, feeling light headed and slightly dizzy. "Can I…ahm…take a shower?"

"Of course." She discharged the bowl down the sink and turned the faucet on out of reflex, wanting to wash it when Sasuke pressed it back startling her, simply because he materialized behind her without breaking a sound, being as swift and silent as a shadow and she hasn't heard him approaching. "We have bathrooms for this, you know?" He dropped his voice two octaves, making his delicious tone even more shuddering and enchanting, while it got a bit whimsical and flirtatious?

Sakura held in her breath, while her hand froze on her plate, letting it slide slowly from her fingers, into the sink, totally feeling like blushing crimson red because of his closeness to her. There was an astonishing warmth blazing through Sasuke`s lean fibers and he was close enough for her to get hotter and frisky. She knew how he looked like even without those clothes around his muscular frame and there was a pleasurable wriggle of her every pore whenever he touched her with those masterfully delectable hands or came into her bubble. But he was anything but invasive, rude, libidinous or perverted.

Finesse, aristocratic grace and an astonishing sense of aesthetics were his defining traits. They were enough to make any woman melt like caramel at his feet and crawl in bliss under his touch.

"I thought-"

"-You are my guest, not a maid." He looked at her for a moment on locking gazes as if wanting to say something else –more- but decided against. Then started to water again and clean them all by myself, leaving Sakura stand aside, awkwardly, not knowing what to do. Sasuke was so atypical for a man of his status and social circle. "There are clean towels and a bathrobe on the hook. I assume you are not in for night shopping, so I am afraid you will have to use my toiletries today."

"I am perfectly fine with it, don't worry. I am sorry to be such a bother." Seeing that he hasn't had anything more to add, the rosette decided to leave the man be and go for the holly indoor plumbing. "I will be going."

She promptly turned on her cheeks and spurted out of there, heading towards the bathroom, leaving a silent Sasuke behind, who was idling over the sink, with the foamy sponge rubbing the plates. What the heck?

"You are not a bother…" He whispered behind her retracting back of the phantom ethereal rosette. His thoughts flew far away, while his onyx orbs trailed on her fluttering pink haired locks. She made him remember his family and his former fiancé. There was something utterly familiar about her and Sasuke couldn't cease away the fact that Sakura was both someone he should and shouldn't be with. Like sin and chocolate altogether.

The moment her bare small feet slide on the luscious aquamarine sparkling floor of Sasuke`s bathroom, she swore she was in Paradise. The bathtub was in fact, one huge Jacuzzi, the colors navy, golden, marble white and grey were ruling there and everything was so sparkling clean, neat, luxurious and pleasant to see. Nothing compared to the pathetic excuse of a bathroom she had back home, which was too small for even getting dressed there, let alone taking a decent bath.

So taking advantage of Sasuke`s generous offer, the rosette turned on the water and poured what she guessed was soap, following in fascination how the bathtub filled with bubbles and lukewarm water. All around her there was a pleasant warm inviting steam and she couldn't help but shudder in delight. It smelled like ocean and spring flowers.

She eagerly gripped the hem of her top, tugging it up to her head, while doing the same with her skirt and chemise, remaining bare in front of the mirror hanging above the sink. She used the back of her hand to wipe away the steam fogging the mirror, getting a look of her naked reflection.

Her rose locks were falling over her small lean shoulders and full rounded firm breasts and ribs. She sighed heavily, while her hand unconsciously skimmed over the two small red dots adorning her porcelain skin, along her pulse.

"What am I going to do with you, girl?" She hummed absentmindedly, turning around, heading to the filled bathtub, testing the water with her toe. It felt amazing. She slowly lowered her naked form down, while the level of the lukewarm water raised around her sinking body.

She let her head loll backwards, sighing dreamy, while her skin crawled in pleasure, getting pampered by the heaven around. She cocked her head over her shoulder, looking through the same huge window glass that tantalized her enchanted view with a magnificent nocturne panorama of the crowded never sleeping city.

That truly felt like a dream. So many things happened in such a short time. Not long ago, she was convinced that it would be the last full moon she would ever see and then she found herself following the most mesmerizing man that she ever encountered in his flat, while he confessed that he was a mystical creature that she found in the most syrupy fiction novels.

A vampire Prince nonetheless. It was so crazy, yet so much like herself. Nothing in her life has ever been normal to begin with. Still fighting the urge to pinch herself and make sure that she hasn't died and went to a place akin to Eden Garden, Sakura took her time to rinse, soap and scrub her skin, shampooing her hair, using Sasuke`s cosmetics. And the thought of smelling like him was enough to set her body on fire!

Heck, she could basically smell _him_ everywhere. _His_ print was lingering all around her, up to the finest details. Everything bore _his_ mark, _his_ philosophy of beauty and _his_ mysterious charms. The moment she felt her skin wrinkle of so much spending into the bathtub, a very soaked rose haired woman reluctantly got off, aiming to the most fluffy looking aquamarine towel, drying her long hair and body.

And she couldn't help but moan contently when she wrapped Sasuke`s bathrobe around her much petite frame, letting her senses get embraced by _his_ manly scent lingering on the soft material. One thing made her curious while taking it from the hook and that was the red and white small fan encrusted on the collar. She vaguely wondered whether it was a random pattern or it actually meant something to him.

She decided she should go and ask the vampire Prince about it. But that could wait, because Sakura had one thing in mind and that was to let her overtired body hit the pillow and sleep for two months. Or at last, till Monday.

Quietly like a mouse, not wanting to disturb him, Sakura tiptoed back through the hall, attempting to enter her new bedroom, when a fading blue-ish pale light coming from the living room made her stop. Curious, she poked her head inside the spacious see through lounge to find Sasuke lying on the sofa, with some files in front of him and a lamp with a warm blue light. She took a moment to admire him and he knocked her breath away. He clearly changed clothes while she got cozy inside his bathroom, and that hot Uchiha made her emerald orbs pop out of their sockets. A red and black silk traditional man kimono was molding over his toned ripped lean body.

A pair of navy blue angular glasses were slanting low on his nose giving him a studied disheveled appearance, his rebel messy spikes were tantalizing brushing over his neck and temples, clashing with the hallow of his alabaster skin and an English porcelain flowered cup of tea was pressed on his thin lips. His nonchalance alone was a picture to kill.

Of course Sasuke has acknowledged his special coral haired guest`s concealed presence, letting his onyx amused orbs travel from the ruffling papers he was studying, to the startled rosette, stared at her, the hand with the cup frozen midways and his head askew. She was hiding behind a purple painted side wall, having a hand pressed on it, revealing only her damp dark rose hair, sticking to her pearl white skin of her collarbone and jaw and a hint of a subtle blush adorning her cheeks. "Had fun?" He stated casually and hid a smirk by sipping from his tea, while closely following Sakura getting redder than the sun. She retracted blushing madly because she hummed and he heard her play with bubbles like a kid. Hell, she even sang some silly popular songs she has heard on Mebuki`s old radio from the kitchen!

Unbeknownst to her, not only Sasuke was deeply entertained by the spectacle, finding it strange that he was not in the bit bothered by her shenanigans, and it didn't have anything to do with the fact that he was understanding and knew that it was probably the first time in her life when stepping into the upper class` marvelous world. Of course she felt like Alice in Wonderland –a very hot looking Alice- but that didn't stop him from sharpening his keen sharp hearing and pay attention to each melodic line that left her joyful mouth.

"I am sorry for being so vocal. I couldn't help myself." Despite the act that Sakura wanted to spin on her toes and dash to her room, where she could promptly bury her nose into the soft cushion and hide her shame, she couldn't peel away her hues from Sasuke`s dark chocolate ones. They were mooning into her emerald ones and a wave of dark sinful desires rippled along her spine, making her skin shudder.

There was an abnormal thick hot sexual chemistry oozing from Sasuke`s picturesque image, which made her insides relentless and fill with naughty butterflies fluttering into the pits of her belly. Her nails crawled at the wall she was resting her palm on and Sakura had no idea of why was she feeling like that towards a stranger.

Sasuke was someone she has just met. Someone who was not even human, let alone someone she could fully trust. But he was breathtakingly irresistible, with his alabaster fine skin, fabulous patrician features and anneal ripped fibers. She dipped her emerald orbs down, eying the ivory fluffy carpet tingling her toes, not wanting to stare like an imbecile and make him feel uncomfortable.

Sasuke on the other hand, knew _exactly_ what she was thinking about, but what she didn't know was that he too was thinking of the same things that she wanted to ward off. Drizzly fuchsia curls were cascading sensually down her petite shoulders and her collarbones, making her viridian gemstones sparkle like crystalline mountain rivers in spring. _His_ bathrobe was nestling her slender naiad graceful curves in a tantalizing mouthwatering way, which left enough room for his wild imagination to desire her enough to mess up with his mind.

"Good night." Were the last words lingering behind her, before the rosette scurried to the room he arranged for her.

"Hn." The onyx eyed vampire resumed his reading, all but being absorbed into some random company related files that his father was nagging him with since Friday.

That was the reason why Sasuke hasn't been surprised at all, when Sakura returned to him, whispering softly. "Sasuke? Thank you for everything." With that, she has truly left him briefly gasping behind her back.

He couldn't help but recoil from the memories she has triggered. _Words_ that always hurt whenever he has heard them, words that cut deeper than knives and words he has heard those before but never so candid.

Before painful memories turned back to him like a boomerang, his phone buzzed on the coffee table. His hand span towards the beeping device, furrowing his fine eyebrows upon starting at the ID of the caller, on the flashing screen.

He pressed _'allow'_ and tapped his ear on the stereo, waiting for his interlocutor to justify his odd late night call.

"What?" His usually velvet voice came as a deep annoyed growl and his pique was palpable to the way he pressed each syllable. Sure, it was no mystery for anyone that sleep to a vampire was something superfluous, so consequently Sasuke hardly slept, preferring to study or enjoy his precious moments of silence instead, when Naruto wasn't ruining it for him whenever he dragged his ass to some random parties, which all lead them into various sorts of troubles, but it didn't mean that he loved to be disturbed after midnight.

" _Why so moody? Have I woken you up?"_ On the other hand, a similar voice to his own greeted from the other side of the line, oozing with a serenity and casualness that only pissed Sasuke off.

The raven haired Uchiha decided to cut any conversation short. "State your business and make it short, I am busy." His apparently flat tune didn't lose any of his bitterness and venom. Sure, he could be the epitome of elegance and a real gentleman, but it was a breeze for a stern man like Sasuke to be blunt, rude and straightforward as well. Especially when he wasn't in the mood to converse.

" _Busy? May I ask with what?"_

"Why do you care?"

" _Answer me first then I will tell you my reason."_ Sasuke couldn't help but scowl. He neatly placed the material he was scanning back into its respective files, focusing on the flat TV which was playing on a sports channel, pinching the bridge of his nose.

His head was killing him due to the alcohol he had from the party before –that was the last time he would _ever_ follow that blonde grinning dobe when he slurred the words _fun_ and _socialization_ to him- and his _brother_ was in the mood to have philosophical conversations.

Was that idiot high or had too much blood?

Sasuke was getting really pissed off. "Have you called me to play mind games?" Because if he did, the youngest of the two Uchiha brothers would clearly send him back to his origins, even if he didn't actually minded Itachi`s presence from time to time, or their encounters.

" _Is that_ _girl_ _around?"_

That unexpected thrown to him appellative caught Sasuke unprepared and he would have dropped his phone on his lap if not for his Uchiha stoicism and self-control, so he merely flinched, but his abyss pupils went slightly wide. He grew stiff and serious in a heartbeat. "What are you talking about?" How in the world was it possible for his brother to know about Sakura, since they have only met three hours ago and in the most unexpected mind blowing situation? Was he stalking him?

" _You know_ _exactly_ _what I am talking about and I am afraid that this time, you have caused quite a storm among our dearest family."_

"I don't understand. What does _she_ have to do with this?"

" _Is she with you?"_

Sasuke took a moment to respond, while his darkened onyx orbs scouted his surroundings, confirming that the rosette in cause was indeed nuzzled inside her room than nodded on the phone, even if Itachi couldn't see him. It was out of pure reflex ,since he wasn't a vocal person to begin with. "She is sleeping."

He didn't like the stoic tone in his brother`s baritone bored voice. He didn't like the fact that Sakura was a topic that Itachi decided to approach, he didn't like the fact that his family got involved, because whenever his clan was, so was his father. And that man was ruthless and unforgiving. He never really acknowledged Sasuke and the rebel black sheep of the family has already attracted Fugaku`s revolt towards his defiance and unwillingness to continue a long tradition of a strict vampire code, entangling with the _new wave_ of the future generations of vampire young heirs, who wished to blend in and be the normal people they would never be.

So what if he decided to have Sakura over to his place and use her as he pleased –even if their bond went deeper than that, though no one had to know simply because they were not hurting anyone. What was Uchiha`s problem with the rose haired suicidal woman in her twenties, who was a no one and lived in poverty, not able to hurt a single fly?

" _Do you know_ _who_ _she is? Where she lives? Anything about her?"_

"She is an orphan, living in ghettos with her foster abusive family. I don't know why the fuck would you give a dam-"

" _-Are you sure she hasn't lied? Do you trust her?"_

Sasuke didn't like where that conversation was heading. Sure, his brother`s questions were intuitive, smart, to the point and precise, though extremely unjustified. What was his problem with the women he decided to have to his place? It never bothered no one before, except for Mikoto who didn't want to see him suffer and hurt again.

Even if it was hardly something he would like to brag about, Sasuke had countless women in his bed. The fact that his killer mouthwatering looks left women –vampires or humans- lusting, wanting and needing him and his body was no secret to anyone. In fact, giving the fact that he has been blessed with the looks of a divine Roman deity, being more than gorgeous, an intellect that could stomp over the majority people of his age, manners, grace, insight, a natural alluring charm and to top it all, an unlimited credit card and a ridiculous amount of money in his bank account, being a reputed lady killer was as predictable as the sun shining during a clear day in August. That didn't take anyone by surprise.

So what was the deal with Sakura then? He went silent for a good minute. "What the heck are you trying to say, Itachi?" He almost flattered at his brother finding his choice to beat around the bush extremely uncharacteristic and…annoying.

Plus, there was something else rising in his throat, making his peculiar cool demeanor waver.

" _She is not_ _what_ _she says."_ Thunderous flower-star motifs were reeling around Sasuke`s dilated maroon pupils, Sharingan blazing like the fiercest sun upon hearing words which made him almost fly off the handle.

His fingers were clasping around the phone, trembling in fury, as his rage, disbelief and refusal to believe the destiny`s supreme mockery was spilling from his skull. It was a wonder that he hasn't broken his phone into pieces. He was up on his feet in a nanosecond, whipping his head backwards, bleeding boiling whirlpools narrowing dangerously in the direction of his guests` room.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

The low rubbing paper noise, followed by the sliding of a new printed sheet of paper made a pair of pearl pupil less orbs flutter open, blinking several times. Still dizzy from being awaken from his slumber, the stoic very tired groggy pushed his bare upper torso up, prompting on his elbows, eying his fax machine. "What is the matter honey?" A sweet tender feminine bell like voice hummed beside him, followed by the sound of ruffled silk bed sheets. "Something wrong at the company?"

"It is not business related." Hyuga Hiashi briefed his curious wife, while rising from his four posted bed, strolling towards the beeping device. He took a fugitive peek at the clock on his nightstand, rising one fine eyebrow at the unusual late hour. "It is from _Fugaku_." The proud flashing Uchiha crest on the ink blue stamp pattern and the neat complicated angled signature made the leader of the Hyūga clan wonder why would his terrific friend send him such an urgent notification at such an odd hour?

Normally, Fugaku would send anything related to business through email or mail, but using the fax meant that whatever the Uchiha patriarch wanted, it was extremely urgent. And that was never a _good_ sign.

"Fugaku? How unusual for him to be contacting you at such a late hour. Did something bad happened?" Of course, the beautiful lilac haired Kana Hyūga was also nurturing the same questions about Fugaku`s uncharacteristic contact, getting weary at the intense look on his husband`s face, while scanning the content of the paper.

"He wants us to meet. The Uchihas have called for a summit of the _Council of Vampires_."

Kana`s light azure orbs flew wide open upon hearing what Hiashi was reading straight from Fugaku`s urgent fax. From the beginning of his mandate, until then, the Uchiha leader in exercise has only called for the Council to meet for only two times and one of them included an execution of two notorious spies and traitors. One of them has been his own brother. "If one of us does this it only means that something _big_ happened. What do you think it can be about?"

"I don't know, but I am sure that someone of his caliber wouldn't have gone as far as to call for an emergent COV if it wasn't something huge." Even if he hid it with the skill of a reputed actor, Hiashi couldn't help but feel unsteady. What in the world could have happened for Fugaku to summon all the heirs from all the noble vampire families and no one briefed him beforehand?

If anything would have went downhill, Hiashi, just like his other comrades and friends would have informed him as soon as they came in contact to any potential threat. But he heard nothing from anyone, which only meant that it was either top secret or was intimately related to his family.

"When?" Kana inquired, while wrapping the coral bed sheet around her naked slender frame, waltzing towards her husband, coming behind the oak office desk, leaning her cheek on his shoulder, looking at the paper in his hand. She felt him tense and erratic, and his shoulder stiffened upon feeling her hot mint over his skin, but relaxed immediately.

She knew he was being engulfed into deciphering the Uchiha`s motive for calling for a meeting. She understood.

"In four days." Hiashi told her absentmindedly. Half of the aforementioned names listed on the luscious piece of paper were not even in Konoha. They were scattered all over the world ,each with his own business, mostly taking care of their respective companies, running from a meeting to another. Needless to say, they would have to cut their trips short, which was definitely not very convenient.

But then again, upsetting and going against Fugaku`s orders was also _not_ an option.

"….I am calling Miko-chan." Kana turned on her heel, leaving her husband hovering above his desk, deciding to find out about whatever was going on in Fugaku`s twisted complicated mind, straight from its source. If he was to really respect, cherish, adore and even fear someone in the universe, it was his delicate angelic wife, who was one of Kana`s dearest friends.

Behind every successful man there was a woman. It was the same for vampires. Female vampires were not only spouses to bear their husbands` offspring and take care of their households. Oh, definitely not. They were strong, independent, straightforward and level headed women, with astonishingly refined manners, incredible intuition who wouldn't forsake their strong beliefs and morals, and involved in charity work or even working in their betrotheds'` companies. By any means, they weren't shallow narrow minded female vampires. They were incredibly intelligent and knew exactly when to be ladies, gentle mothers, tender sensual wives and show off their fangs.

Hiashi on the other hand, wasted no more time in dialing the number of Nara Shikaku.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

The moment her damp rose hair hit the soft pillow, Sakura has been magically transcended into the realm of deep slumber, falling asleep almost immediately. She didn't even have time to meditate, freak out, panic, pinch herself to see if it was real or not, before her emerald orbs drag their curtains and her eyelids glued together.

She only prayed for no dream to come to her, for they were all related to the pungent reek of cheap poisonous alcohol burning her nostrils, or the piercing shriek of her foster mother directed to something she hasn't even done. It was habitual for them to vent on the poor innocent rosette for their own frustrations.

And that was exactly the reason why Sakura had all but a calm, peaceful slumber. Her consciousness' has taken her down the road of horrifying vivid nightmares, all related to how would her foster family react if they were to see her again, after she has left from home.

Trapped amidst the tumult of her encounter with Sasuke and being overwhelmed by his offer, Sakura hasn't had time to think about the possible consequences of an eventual meeting with Mebuki and her husband again. And that thought alone was giving her nightmares, like the one she was having.

In the back of her mind, where all the demons lurked and wandered, she was living the experience of seeing Mebuki and Kizashi`s fuming faces, their harsh cruel words, the curses and names they had for her and of course, their merciless slaps, punches and kicks.

"N-No… _no_!" The emerald eyed woman tossed and turned, gripping and tugging at the pillow and bed sheets, which she has almost kicked out of the bed, like she was trying to tear them to shreds. "Stop! Please!" She had her eyes squeezed tight, while her quivering lips were helplessly begging for whatever was tormenting her mind to stop.

Unbeknownst to her, a pair of narrowed voracious piercing bloody crimson orbs were fixing her trashing form, lurking from behind his slim long intertwined fingers, brought in front of his half concealed face.

For a whole half an hour, Sasuke has been sitting on a chair that he has dragged beside the bed, motionless and expressionless, starting at the frightened lamb sprawled on the mattress, while his mind has been the realm of an amalgamation of contradictions.

According to his father`s rules…he was supposed to _kill_ her right away.

"… _save_ …me…" Those words of plea were the ones she has been stating for countless times to no one in particular and whenever he heard of them, Sasuke couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, like they were all sent to _him_ and the intensity grew with every passing murmur.

It was unbearable as it was making him reel in craziness.

He abruptly stood up, while his muscular impressive shadow hovered above her slender silhouette. He cocked his head, making his long midnight graceful bangs fall on his blazing spinning blood irises. As if moving in slow motion, in absolute silence, his calloused hand went to her throat, pressing down her jugular.

She was so tender and fragile under his touch, akin to a timid snowflake fluttering above his palm, he felt her pulse pumping life through her veins and his fingertips trailed across the two red pinches marking the imprint of his sharp two fangs.

His breath hitched down his throat, while his muscles stiffened on the contact with the adrenaline discharge rushing through his every pore. It would be so _easy_ to kill her in a blink of an eye. She won't even feel the pain, nor would she be aware of the fact that she was no longer alive. As if her inner alertness has been stirred, Sakura stopped trashing so violently, when his precise finger slide along the base of her neck and her erratic breathing has turned into a soft staccato rhythm.

Waiting. Needing. Trembling in anticipation. Feeling dread coming.

She _has_ to die…

Her heart shaped strawberry lips were still whimpering and slightly crying but miraculously, she was not awake. Sasuke let his flaming orbs roam along the creature stretched on his bed, noticing each and every glint or move she made. She was resembling a virgin maiden in a Greek temple tainted by the lust within his eyes and his power over her naïve mind, leading her towards the road of sin, making her turn her head from the ineffable.

An angel falling from Eden with crushed wings, in the limbs of darkness. He watched the tantalizing reflection of the moon's hallow on her pearl translucent skin, adding subtle shadows to her ineffable untouched exposed beauty, making her look like a Greek 'caryatid' of a virgin maiden.

A suave delicacy was framing her slender slim curves, cupping the swell of her plump delicate breasts and gracefully skimming down her fine waistline. The pearl white color of her glowing swan like skin was clashing with the contrast of his royal navy and golden sheets, emphasizing the purity of her exquisite silhouette. She was cuddled into the cushion like a Persian kitten pawing the pillows and tugging at the soft material, mewling.

Het siren sensual soft hums were seductive piano and violin canon, the melody of her bell like tender voice was enrapturing him, coaxing his senses into a diffuse windmill of sensations. She was carrying his lust on gentle crane wings and the amplitude of the sensations which her fragility and purity was stirring inside him, was madness and carnal craving.

He tenderly cupped her damp rose check and brushed his thumb over her crystalline tears, flowing down her face like tiny rivers, following their mark down the corner of her lower quivering lip. Those plum heart shaped luscious fine lips felt like lace on velvet under his touch. They were moist, warm and gentle, like fine cashmere. She was goddamn _beautiful_.

The jade eyed woman parted her mouth, inhaling sharply once, still sobbing in her sleep. Sasuke knew she was probably tormented by nightmares of her family. She has been stating the name of those loathsome mortals more than he was willing to withstand during the time he has been watching her.

Sasuke was in the verge of thundering in front of them and end up their lives in the most tormenting way he knew for what they did to her, but decided against it. They already had enough on their heads as it was. Another problem would only add to the web. His Sharingan was relentlessly carving her every gesture down his skull. She pressed her lips together, clasping his finger with her soft petals, kissing the tip of his finger, briefly nibbling on it.

Like she has been offering honey and Ambrosia, she seemed to adore the taste of his flesh.

Of course. Since his body was not actually alive, his vampire carcass was only surged by sweet and balmy fluids, making them appetizing from the inside out. That was one of the reasons why often vampires tended to be into BDSM practices, even going as far as to feed from their partners` flesh. The amazing healing ability made up for the scars and injuries. And the sexual lust and hormones made their activities more than worth it.

The Vampire Prince let his finger stroll down her pointed chin, sliding down her throat and heading south, through the ample tantalizing valley of her half unclad firm round mounds, sensually and slowly, like he wanted to draw her in pastel colors and he almost smirked when he felt the rosette`s her heart rate escaladed upon the contact of his ministrations.

Tiny sparkling rolls of dew drops were rolling from her temples and damp nymph locks, down her neck and shoulders. Her long tresses in the exquisite color of spring and coral dawn were scattered on his dark pillow. He could smell his shampoo on her hair and it was maddening, erotic, sexual and seductive.

He could even imagine himself impaling her with his scent, while he rocked her world, imprinting her with their combined essences and coaxing her into giving in to lust.

Slowly, but surely, Sakura replaced her sobs with moans and content mewls. Her furrowed eyebrows and once wrinkled sweaty forehead relaxed, while her serene features lightened like the translucent beaming moon above the sky. Her curly long eyelashes were fluttering like butterflies` wings and she took deeper inhales. Carnivorous star shaped irises were satiating from the rises and falls of her full firm sensual chest, as he touched her.

She was responding to his every move, in all the right ways. Sasuke couldn't prevent his own temperature to rise a few degrees and accumulate in the pits of his lower regions, where it should have stayed cooled down and tempered.

Carefully so as not to wake her up, the onyx eyed Uchiha vampire let his thighs press on the edge of the bad, without making any ripple like he was light as a feather not pressing the mattress, coming to sit right beside his jade eyed guest. He slide his fingertips over her uncovered rounded small knee and let it smooth along her thigh, going under the bathrobe she wore –his- stopping before it went further, guessing that she probably wore no underwear behind since her clothes were in the washing machine, and he didn't want to betray her trust and disrespect her in any way.

He wouldn't succumb into lust, in lieu of betraying his morals and beliefs. He has _promised_ her.

Also, Sasuke wasn't sure he would be able to stop in time, with all the carnal need swelling inside his belly and mind, while she was screaming in her sleep for people to stop taking advantage of her. He would have been just as a _monster_ as her father and mother. His mesmerizing hot touch alone was enough to make her temperature escalate few degrees. She mewled at him in what looked like a seductive concoction of lust, desire, contentment and bliss. "Hmm…"

Entrapped by the rhythm his touch was creating over her trembling skin, Sasuke dipped his head down, brought his wandering eager hand around her swan long neck, skimming along her jaw, leading her face towards her left side and she hasn't opposed him in any way. He leaned forward nuzzling his nose along her jawline, blowing a hot stream on her ear.

Sakura`s response has been prompter than a Swiss clock. She dug her nails down the pillow she was holding, mewling and letting her palm scout blindly searching for the owner of that desirable touch. She was a mysterious walking fascination of both cuteness and sensuality.

She was seeking for _him_.

Sasuke couldn't help himself. Leaning forward like a swift snake, he pressed the tip of his tongue on the junction of his neck and shoulder, and rolled his tongue outside, pressing it on her pulse, gliding along the slim throbbing vein, leaving a trace of slick hot saliva glistening on her porcelain skin, suckling and fondling her. "Aaahhhh…" She breathed hotly, while her ribcage was sending sexy vibrations through the stillness of the room. Sasuke was turning her nightmare into an erotic dream.

He blew a cool air over the throbbing hot skin of the neck he licked and he saw her bare skin ripple and cover with cold pleasurable shivers. The sneaky selfish Uchiha knew what he was doing to her all too well. But that dint stop him from cocking his head, dipping down his chin and lightly as the first rays of light in spring caressing the bell flowers under the snow, he let the tip of his tongue press on her full lower lip, tracing the soft flower like petal contour, slowly, barely touching her, living a fine line of saliva along on its journey, pulling back the moment she pursed her both lips.

If he stayed, she would have kissed him without knowing and he remembered that she had a reasonin for not wanting to do it. But he did that to help her. She nibbled her lower lip and unconsciously tasted him on her mouth, bringing a part of him into her, along with his alleviating powers.

She breathed and moaned contently, tracing her own rosy tongue shyly over her lips, like seeking for more, craving for _more_. For the taste of a vampire. _His_ taste. She had no idea that she felt just as good as he. For the first time in forever, Sasuke found the taste of sweet cherries absolutely delicious. Her inner diaphanous floral and fruity feminine fragrance was a pure caress for his senses. She has shared a ghost of a kiss with him and she would probably never know of it, unless he told her. Softly, almost sweetly, Sasuke caressed her temples with his knuckles once more before disappearing into the night, creeping out a small smirk, before vanishing from her side, in a heartbeat.

He was in his room the next moment, racking his fingers through his disheveled messy midnight hair, while his head was spinning. His muscles were aching and stiff, throbbing and needing something she was reluctant to give.

His expert fingers unfastened the robe he wore, stepping into his shower, turning the cold water on, letting it spill over his broad shoulders and ebony locks. Onyx orbs squeezed tight, while his body was high of Sakura and everything she represented. He was hard as a rock and more than ready to turn back and truly show her how was it to be with a vampire. Especially if his name was Uchiha Sasuke. Said midnight haired vampire Prince pressed his palms and forehead on the cool foggy glass, thinking about how he has almost lost his cool, because of her radiance.

Sakura was like a sinful drug, with her sheer grace and diaphanous glow.

Her smell, her phantom, her vivid emerald eyes, she was _everywhere_ he looked, tasted, smelled, seen or touched.

He _couldn't_ kill her. Sasuke didn't _want_ to kill her and _no one_ would convince him to do so. Killing was the easiest way, dying was the quickest escape. Protecting and fighting for what his adulated one was the hardest thing to do. Taking responsibility and gaining the courage to assume an eternity of guilt was the real challenge.

Accepting someone else was the supreme test for an empty heart.

Fugaku could take the Express to Hell, one way. His youngest determined son stepped outside the running freezing water, dripping and soaked, on all his naked glory, letting the fade pale moonlight bathe his lean deliciously ripped long defined fibers, while he strode towards his phone. He put it on his ear, removing the bed sheets with the other hand, slipping into his bed, only covering his lower torso. The person he called has answered after the first beep. "Brother," He spoke lowly and deadly serious, leaving no room for interpretation. " _That_ …means nothing. I won't stop."

He could see his brother smirk into the phone, even though he knew that Sasuke couldn't see him. But just like their blood bond, their minds and thoughts were connected. And he also knew that the low rumble and growl he has been trying to suppress, was thanks to his fiancé Konan who was kissing his chest, still bathed in the after effect of their intense night romance _. "Very well. Be careful, father is taking action."_

Sasuke smirk deviously at his brother`s honest reply. "I can't wait." His velvet voice let Itachi know that his little brother wouldn't go down without a fight. He did it once when he decided to separate from his family`s nest, spread his wings wide and fly towards his own future, so nothing stopped him for doing it all over again, if he decided that the prize was worth it. "Later."

He flipped his phone shut, slipping a hand under his nape, looking at the reflection of the moon`s dance on his wall. He and Itachi were just the same and that was the reason why the older Uchiha supported his brother in everything he did.

Itachi risked a lot by also contacting his foolish little brother right after he briefed their father over the situation arisen. Fugaku would definitely summon the COV. Sasuke knew it. But what he also knew was the fact that half of the members were strongly supporting and shared his point of view, so his father would be left alone to fight the windmills.

But no one would lay a finger on Sakura. Definitely not while she was under _his_ surveillance.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

Emerald orbs flew eagerly and jolly in each possible direction, while her nimble small delicate digits were tapping all the buttons she found her way. After one of the most amazing sleeps she had, Sakura has woken up by the first rays of morning, being in high spirits. And she definitely hasn't protested when Sasuke made her follow him outside, after a delicious breakfast, to accompany him. He hasn't told her where were they heading to and she didn't care either.

She was currently sitting on the passenger seat being all starry eyed, letting her beaming jade orbs look through the tinted window, taking in the beat of the rushed city. She has never been in someone's car before and definitely not in _that_ kind of car. But even if she has been living among the rejects and creeps, Sakura wasn't oblivious or dumb. She knew how to read _Porsche_ and what it meant. A lady magnet. It also cost more than she could read. But it was definitely comfortable and luxurious on the inside. "Still not telling me where we are going?"

"No."

"You have told me about vampires, yet you won't tell me where are you taking me. Why so secretive?"

"Why so eager to know?"

"You are an interesting man. Of course it would intrigue me."

They went like that from the moment they left Sasuke's place. Sakura was trying to trick him into telling her where he was taking her, while the always so intuitive Uchiha wouldn't slip any hint to her. Not that she minded. He was indeed not very talkative, yet they were having an interesting way to communicate, like playing Inspector Gadget. It was funny.

Plus, she couldn't help but inwardly salivate at the way he was dressed that day. By all the Heavens, she swore that not even Armani male models looked that damn fine in suits. And he was only wearing a simple shirt, yet he was droolicious.

"We are almost there, but first," the Uchiha`s casual low rich voice made her snap out of her reverie –he caught her staring at his handsome profile AGAIN- while said man turned the steering wheel and pulled the fine car into the parking lot. "…we take a small detour." Before she had the chance to be an idiot and fumble with the lock, Sasuke was out of his driver`s seat, going round his shiny car, and opened up the door for her to come out, even going as far as to be the ultimate gentleman by having his hand stretched towards her.

She took it with a small _thank you_ and he smirked at how she looked at him and then around the crowded busy place, letting her jade orbs trail towards the shiny sign of the shop where Sasuke parked his car, akin to a like a kid visiting ponies for the first time. "What is….this?" She furrowed her eyebrows reading the name of the shop, not actually understanding why would the exquisite graceful man display himself beside her in public. "Why are we here?"

"Shopping," he shrugged casually locking his car and taking her with him strolling towards the two rotating glass golden doors, "what else?" He couldn't believe that such world came out of his mouth. If Naruto was to see him right then, that dobe would fill his blackmail collection for the next fifteen centuries. He threw keen glances around to make sure that he wasn't stalking him. Naruto was just as bad.

"O-Okay? But is all right for someone like _me_ to be here?" She whispered to him when they entered the fancy place and ask the all the heads of women and man whipped towards them and stayed glued to the totally mismatched pair. Sasuke was casually boring his onyx hard steel orbs into their incredulous rude stares, silently daring them to blurt some improper remark if they knew what was good for them, while Sakura wanted to crawl into a shell and remain there forever. She had her eyes cast down, hair covering her face, hiding behind Sasuke.

"Hn. Why not?" He hushed back to her, half cocking his head towards her, looking like he owned the place. "Isn't this for people?"

She smiled at him, brushing her hair around her ear when she got what he meant. It was truly ironical for him to be saying such a thing. Not that the rosette actually gave a damn about what people said and whispered behind her back. She was way past it being immune to their harshness. People talked and gossiped, especially since she was living and looking like a beggar. But she didn't want Sasuke to be seen in her presence. He didn't deserve such a disgrace. Not having any spare clothes, the emerald eyed girl had to clad in her own clothes, which were magically dry and clean in the morning. "Mr. Uchiha?" A rather tall slender woman chirped behind the couple, approaching them with the most sugary fake smile on her face.

Sakura looked at her flawless makeup, fancy nails, neat ponytail and the charming flirtatious beam. The rosette decided that she might be honest when setting her eyes on the droolicious Sasuke, but she was probably forcing herself to be polite to a…beggar like her. "How can I possibly be of _your_ help?"

Was that a _flirt_? Sakura wondered and she actually experienced something she has never felt before. Anguish clenched inside her chest when she saw the honey eyes that the woman was giving to the handsome client, as if she was demanding something that the rosette wasn't willing to give, which was ridiculous because she was nowhere entitled to claim anything on Sasuke.

Sure, they had quite an unique agreement, but those lewd hungry stares the women gave him all around, those scrutinizing glossy smiles and smirks, the mere idea of how far their gap was between them, were all making Sakura cringe and shy away.

Which was stupid as hell. She was not his lover, his spouse, his fiancé and definitely not his bride.

Sasuke mentally rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to sigh, snap, brood, frown and be totally impolite with that seller. By all the Heavens above, he was dead sick and tired of all those droolicious widened pupils and hearts sent his way whenever he walked.

Of course, he had no problem in being the spotlight in clubs or parties, because that automatically won him the ticket into the hottest women`s bed, without breaking a sweat, doing absolutely nothing but being himself.

But he was not there to party or hook anyone up, so he would have at least expected some privacy and more professionalism. And they called it an exclusive shop. The only exclusive thing was the parking lot and the over polished floor. But then another more elegant and entertaining thought shot through his mind and that was the reason why Sasuke decided to beat her at her own game, so he nonchalantly and naturally slipped his hand around Sakura`s waist, in a perfect loving pampering manner, bringing her flush into his chest, saying to the woman whose face has sank like Titanic. "Not me. _She_ , is the one you are going to help."

Sakura thought she couldn't turn more shades of crimson red and her cheeks were burning worse than her earlobes. She was pressed on Sasuke`s mouthwatering ripped body, he was holding her like a lover, his hand was wrapped around her body, his head was cocked towards her, she felt his soft hair brush her temple, she felt his spicy strong masculine fragrance intoxicate her, he was being such a sinful sweet cruel amazing pretender, his smirk was ravishing, his demeanor was magnetizing, he was doing it like he… _meant it._

The other clients were ogling her with jaundiced eyes; their flaming orbs were shooting lasers to her skull in jealousy for being in the company of the hot eye candy rich man. She knew why. The rosette was being in a place she didn't _belong_ , in the presence of a man that was forever _out_ of her reach.

And that was making her inwardly grin victoriously. They didn't know that he was a vampire.

Though shopping with Sasuke in a place that was worth more than ten lives of hers, wasn't part of their agreement. She thought he only wanted her to drink her blood, like he was enjoying that sweet expensive wine of his and that thought alone didn't make her sad or feel used and dirty. And that was strange. Either she didn't value herself at all –she already loathed her existence- or she went completely insane.

…it had NOTHING to do with the fact that he made her body explode in ecstasy when he touched her….

"Of course." The woman tried to remain composed, cheerful and polite –even if she would have rather grip on Sakura`s pink strange hair and throw her ass outside- and thus keep her job. She let her amber orbs trail from Sasuke`s smirking handsome figure –where they lingered a bit too much- and set them to the woman beside him. "Shall we, Miss?" She addressed to Sakura and the amount of venom and disdain leaking through her clenching teeth was giving the jade eyed woman chills. The rosette only moved when she felt a slight squeeze from Sasuke.

"Go." He whispered to her softly and she let the woman lead her to a huge dressing room, while she instructed Sakura to remain in place and wait for her. She did just as so staring at her skinny poor self in the huge mirrors, pouting.

The woman came back after five minutes with a pile of clothes the size of Mount Everest in her hands, asking her if she needed help with dressing. She told her 'no' with a horrified expression on her face. Last thing she needed was to embarrass Sasuke further, with her anorexic body, which needed fat and food more than it needed wax.

Also…there were the _scars_. Angry red marks of all shapes and dimensions were running along her back and arms, some deeper and some superficial, but it was not something that she would like to show. Even if she hardly had money, Sakura was still a woman and image was important to her as well. She too wanted to be considered pretty and attractive to men, yet the only one to ever look at her, even going as far as to touch her and call her beautiful, was Sasuke.

And he was not even a human.

' _Story of my life…'_ she bitterly thought, while helping herself into the clothes she has been brought. She was amazed of what she has seen. The woman knew her size without even asking. They not only fit her like a glove. She was _another_ person and the more expensive fine clothes she tried on, the larger her beam has become. In the end, she decided to wear a cocktail dress that literarily stole her breath away with its beauty. "Are you ready, Miss?" The woman chirruped from behind the curtain of the dressing room.

A small smile graced her features. She threw one last look in the mirror before stepping outside. And it was in that moment when the employee woman ungracefully gasped when Sakura stepped outside.

Sasuke was trying his best to look busy, just to cease away the getting annoying stares, the whispers and ogles, feeling a vein pop up on his temple. He won't be possibly be wandering through the shelves on the upper floor where the men clothes were and God forbids, shop. His mother Mikoto was more than welcomed to buy him clothes if she pleased since shopping was her number one hobby. So he was idly tapping his phone, scrolling down his college`s website, looking for any updates on the schedule, when something caught his attention. "Ahm…" At the sound of a soft shy bell like voice singing like a piano tune, his head snapped up and, for just a single precious moment trapped in the ice, he completely froze and stopped existing.

Onyx orbs went tad wider, his lips parted ever so little and he would have dropped his jaw to the floor if he wasn't in the most inappropriate place to do so or a man who didn't like to display emotions and flabbergast publicly. What he thought was no one else`s damn business.

But _damn_.

That one particular _she_ was definitely Sakura, the girl he coaxed to come with him last night, yet…it was a whole new person. A _woman_.

And she was the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen. _Ever_.

In the place of the baggy dirty rags, a charming red silk and chiffon fancy cocktail dress was molding over the contour of her every slim suave siren curves, reaching just above her ankles, where ample folds were brushing past the porcelain skin of her slim thighs, like a flower spreading wide its graceful sensual petals.

There were two slim lace straps keeping the heart shaped corset in place, decorating her lean bare shoulders. Her long luscious silk tresses were falling tantalizingly over her left shoulder in wavy rebel nonchalant and innocent angelic dainty curls, like a bride`s fine veil. The color of bright rose wine was emphasizing the avant garde shade of her exotic marine green and golden orbs.

She was delicate as a pure _blanca_ swan, her innocence was glowing on that creamy smooth skin, the traces of womanhood were elegantly blessing her slender figure with ample precise and seductive curves, worth of a sylph. Mystical, she was absolutely stunning looking without wearing any trace of makeup, yet she was flawless. Her full rounded breasts and firm slim hips were so tantalizing, yet so dignified and feminine. She was _perfect_ in his eyes. Those mesmerizing viridian gemstones beaming at him with all the radiance for her soul were appealing to Sasuke to come and get something from her and give her something back.

 _Damn._

And of course, she just _had_ to wear those ten inch lacquerer high heels which only highlighted the delicacy of her slim legs and gazelle ankles, making her already long legs look like a model`s. They would look so well seizing his waist while he-

-admired her breathtaking beauty, while she waltzed to him stopping when she was in front of him, brushing a fallen lock of her face, eying him from behind coy eyelashes. He said absolutely nothing because an Uchiha hardly was showing emotions in public. But inwardly his mind had a shut down his brain has been electrocuted and all he could think of was how he would gladly indulge into his ravenous hormones, strip her of all those expensive –he couldn't care less- clothes, French kiss her breathless until they would stumble back into the dressing rooms and fuck her ruthless against the huge mirror.

He blinked twice slowly letting his darkened gaze skim along he body, measuring her from head to toe, contemplating the way she stood like a delicate swan and a rose in bloom in all her elegant glory not believing his eyes that he was not imagining things.

He was indeed not chasing phantoms, she was truly there in front of him and he indulge into the sudden impulse to lift his hand and brush his knuckles along her jaw, twirling a longer curl lock around his index lazily yet she thought she would melt. "Not bad."

She could see it in his eyes that he would have liked to say something more poetic but refrained from doing so and she understood why from the way he acted calm, collected, impenetrable and cool. It was his face for the world. He gave nothing away and she liked that mystery lingering over him. A quick look around when he left her side, going to probably pay for the clothes, assured Sakura that she was not the only one finding him fascinating.

Heck she didn't see women swoon and salivate over a man before, yet she couldn't blame them. They had money just like him, they were probably from the crème of the society like him and…no straight woman couldn't _not_ look at his rippling back, wrapped in that slim fit shirt and not imagine what would be like to run a palm between his lean muscular ripped shoulder blades, down his straight S shaped spine, all the way to his firm ass.

She wanted to slap herself back to reality. That insanely sexy, all too observant arrogant Uchiha vampire in disguise swirl his head over his shoulder, leaning casually over the counter, catching her ogling at his deliciously sculpted physique, gasping like a frog catching flies, having a ghost of an arrogant hot smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

That _jerk_. Sakura realized that he was making her go flush on purpose. Women around were ready to slit her throat. And then it hit her like a shocker. She threw some weary glances around, wondering how many of them were female vampires?

Now that she knew that humans weren't the only ones waltzing around, she also came to the frightening conclusion that she wasn't able to tell them apart. "The most obvious thing that gives them away immediately, is exactly the thing they are most praised for, namely the flawless inhumane beauty."

She almost jumped out in surprise when she felt Sasuke`s mint fan on her nape, whispering to her and she spun around at top speed making her hair and clothes whirl along, creating an interesting rippling innocent effect, like they were actors. She understood immediately what he told her.

"How did you know that I was thinking about…" She trailed while he cocked his head, inviting her to follow him outside.

"I would have been surprised if you didn't, now that you know the truth." He explained and she agreed with his logic. He was silently praising her for being observant and catching up things pretty quickly. Even if she was living at the bottom of the food chain, she was quick to catch things up and wasn't an oblivious fool, she was getting used really quickly.

' _Just like her brethren.'_ He inwardly added.

"There was no beautiful woman in there." She added while he held the door for her to step in. He strolled to the back of the luxury vehicle, placing the bags inside his trunk, then coming to slip on the driver's seat. He gave her a full hot smirk when she pouted and crossed her arms upon her chest.

His orbs flew on the subtle tantalizing appetizing hint of cleavage popping up from the fitting corset of the red dress. "You are wrong."

Her emerald orbs flew to his face, astonishment written all over her face. "There _was_? Really? Who?"

He went silent, started his car, maneuvered it easily through the parking lot and when he speeded up on the second line, he added. "I am taking her to lunch right now."

She put a palm down her cheek and smiled on her lap. He called her _beautiful_ , didn't he? Their ride was silent as she let her emerald orbs fly all over the glossy advertising panels, tall buildings lazy people having a relaxed Sunday, kids, families and of course… _lovers_.

He parked in front of a restaurant which had the architecture of a 17th century mansion, then he skillfully maneuvered his vehicle through the parking lot and she saw that there was a spectacle of shiny eye-catching cars around. Sakura quickly came to the brilliant conclusion that it was hella exclusive and not just anyone could waltz in like in a pastry shop. "This is…wow!" Sakura breathed to Sasuke while he silently offered her his arm and she wrapped her much petite one around his toned bulky one, inwardly praying not to trip on the heels. It was probably her innate womanly instincts the reason why she could step on those things. They were beautiful indeed, she wouldn't deny it.

And any woman on earth –be it beggar or millionaire- would adore a pair of classy fashionable heels.

Especially if they walked beside a gorgeous brunette vampire, right to the front door, stepping along him on the terracotta carpet rippling upon the marble stairs. Arms linked and chins held high, both waltzed inside, while a butler held the door open, bowing once and smiling at them.

The interior was even more astonishing. Forest green charmed orbs bathed in the shimmering warm honey vanilla golden leaves on the wall, the crystal mirrors with porcelain baby blue and pastel pink motifs decorated mirrors, silvery chandeliers flickering delicately on each pure white tablecloths, polished floor, elegantly decorated tables, fancy people enjoying the coziness and the privacy, a live jazz band playing soft sensual tunes to going well with the appetizing meals.

"This is my favorite restaurant." Sasuke whispered to her, while a waiter led them to the second floor, on the _VIP_ section, as written in golden and terracotta letters on a side wall.

"I can see why." That place was just like him: high class, luxurious, without being exaggerated, populated with opulent people of his social circle, elegant yet mysterious, friendly and sophisticated. And the raven haired Uchiha was the perfect gentleman. He pulled out her chair at the table, making her feel protected and cared for. When they have been handed the black leather hard covered menu, the rosette thought it was the human Anatomy Atlas.

"The food here is acceptable." She heard him blurt, while her orbs sank on the menu and remained glued to the various flashing meals with fancy names in different languages. Acceptable? Was there any other more luxurious looking restaurant to pass his definition of 'good'? In Dubai maybe. Or Paris, she supposed. "For both humans and _us._ "

She almost had a heart attack when he casually stated what he has just, like they were conversing about the reproduction of the Burgundy snail. Her emerald orbs left the menu she couldn't begin to comprehend let alone read and flew to Sasuke, who hasn't even bothered to open it, probably knowing what to order in advance, since he was a regular. "You mean…here, around us, there are also…?"

He nodded once. She discreetly looked around, since it was easily being on the upper level and indeed there were stunning people around who stood up in beauty, manners and jewelry. She felt her skin shudder in both fright and…something else. Sasuke said he would introduce her to his world and he did just that, yet it was more overwhelming than she would have anticipated. "Don't be afraid."

She spun her head back to watch him. He was having a serene look on his face and a ghost of a smirk. " _Nothing_ has changed." He meant that she should act like she didn't know because vampires were acting like normal trying to blend in.

For Sakura on the other hand, everything changed. "It did, because I am with _you_."

He fully smirked at her because he knew she started to understand the fully extent of her apparently simple request in exchange for her blood. "Exactly." Meaning that even if there was a slightly possibility for the unexpected to happen, no one was that insane to mess with the Uchiha Vampire Prince, Fugaku`s youngest son. That would only mean imminent doom. "Should _I_ order for you as well?"

She gave up and smiled apologetically for her lack of acknowledge. The menu was written entirely in French, Italian and German. "Yes, please."

He nodded once than looked at the waiter who stood at the end of the stairs. He was there beside them in an instant, not even taking down their order, but had arms crossed behind his back, while Sasuke ordered in fluent French, something she only heard in old romantic movies.

"Why did you do this?" She asked the onyx eyed man, when the waiter left from her field of view.

He raised an eyebrow at her not quite expecting her to not fancy being invited to a restaurant. "This is my vision of a perfect weekend. I told you I do not have the insight of what you would like. But you can always let me know if there is something particular you would like to do. Plus, I figured that you wouldn't possibly be comfortable in your own clothes and I was not in the mood to order food."

She knew he was playing it cool. He could have ordered instead of going out and have it catered to his home, like he did the night before, but he did it especially for _her_ , even going as far as to bring her, a total stranger and a commoner, to a place where people and vampires probably knew him. "You don't have to go so far for _me_."

"This is nothing compared to how much you give to me." Sasuke was fast to shut whatever remorse thought might have been reeling through her mind, thinking that it was quite a bother for him. She was letting him drink from her blood, for God`s sake! "But I cannot measure that in money." His unvoiced was that he measured it in feelings. As if on cue a waiter –a different one, who Sasuke explained was the sommelier- has brought a foamy golden Champagne.

"What do we toast for?" She wondered, leaving the subject drop. She was not upset, nor indifferent, she was just overwhelmed. Yesterday she was the hungry girl living in poverty who was on the verge of committing suicide. Next day, she is together with an irresistible billionaire, having lunch in a place that she only saw on TV, drinking fine Champagne.

Then she remembered how he taught her to drink her wine and logic played in her brain like a smooth violin. "You knew we will be coming here, didn't you?" She didn't have to voice it. He knew.

"Can you guess what I am going to do next, Sakura?" He challenged back, finding himself willing to succumb to the charms of those sparkling golden forest green orbs.

She bit her lower lip briefly, feeling butterflies roam when he stared at her like that. "I am trying to stay level headed and not let this," She let her eyes spin once, pointing to the impetuous place. " _swallow_ me entirely."

She sipped form the champagne, doing her best to be as elegant as the place was, and she would have liked to moan dreamy at how sweet honey like it tasted.

The same waiter who took their order waltzed back to them, holding a course of appetizing looking food and rose haired woman felt her mouth water. Even though she had absolutely zero idea of what was decorating her plate, it looked like a work of art. Sasuke immediately briefed her about what he has chosen for her –her heart squealed in delight at that thought- telling her that it was Caviar. She couldn't help but smile fully and heartedly at him. "This is like a fairytale. A modern version of a Cinderella." Bringing the fork upon her full luscious lips, she let the tasty food delight the tip of her tongue.

Just as she would have expected it, it was _divine_. For a night like that, it was worth living another day, she silently decided.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

Vivid heart shaped irises, which were having the infinite azure`s color trapped into the depths of their abysses, were all set on the mesmerizing creature seated just in front of them, while the owner of the most mesmerizing lilac eyes was blushing and enjoying the feast he ordered for her in advance.

 _Uzumaki Naruto_ was utterly and royally in love with the beautiful nymph, who went by the name _Hinata_. Even her elegant name was making his heart roll in ecstasy while he kept on chanting it inside his mind from morning to night, when she was not in his presence.

Her only flaw, if he could even name one, was that she was a Hyūga. A pure aristocratic blooded female _vampire_ heiress of a noble famous clan and she has committed the ultimate sin of falling madly in love with a half vampire and half human. But what fault did the young honey haired foxy boy have, for her mother`s choice of marrying and loving a simple mortal, with the heart of gold and the courage of a lion?

"T-Thank you f-for inviting m-me to lunch, N-Naruto- _kun_." Said cerulean eyed man got tingles all along his body and down his fingertips and toes when Hinata softly placed her unoccupied hand, adorned with a velvet white pearl encrusted glove upon his own shaky one, smiling in that angelic way that made his heart burst out of his ribcage.

Maybe the most fascinating thing about that particular female vampire, with her enchanting shimmering dark violet petal like tresses cascading down her bare shoulders, was her eternal shyness around him. Naruto would have loved to lock her into a golden chest and wear it around his neck, as a necklace, just to keep her as close to his heart as possible. It only stirred when she touched or smiled him, anyways. "It was not like I could have stayed so far from you anyway, Hinata." He grinned in that solar energetically way that made the Hyuga`s heart flutter like a white dove, while waiving his fork in the air, totally not bothered by displaying flawless manners. "One more second without you and I would totally rot like a leaf, believe it!" It was exactly that disheveled insouciance the thing that Hinata adored most at Naruto.

He didn't give a flying fuck about what the others thought about him, their gossip and rumors regarding his atypical uncaring goofy attitude slipped past him like a morning breeze, totally not affecting him and he was never afraid to be himself and let the voice of ration and his strong morals and beliefs be heard whenever.

Even if he was the total opposite of his raven haired Yin stoic, composed, thick-skinned counterpart, it didn't mean that Hinata didn't find him the most delightful man in the world. And he told her the most sincere, straightforward, sweet things in the world.

"Y-You say t-this everytime y-you see me."

"It is because I feel I am dying without you everytime I am _not_ seeing you." Ah, wasn't the apparently dumb knucklehead wise when he wanted? Shikamaru and Neji went as far as to think that Naruto was acting like an idiot just in the vicinity of Sasuke, to piss him off, which he most of the times succeeded in doing.

"I-I couldn't wait u-until tomorrow, either." She gave him one of her winning smiles, giving in into the sky eyes that caressed her soul, feeling grateful that Naruto has invited her over. For starters, she was so not in the mood to shop with the girls, especially not if _Ino_ was one of them, flailing and howling like a banshee that her favorite pair of shoes has been sold.

Then it was her father Hiashi who was not the most content father in the world, with her choice of a boyfriend…or a boyfriend in general. If he could, he would have kept a hawk surveillance on his two daughters 27/7, but Kana took the reins and put her exaggerated old fashioned husband into place.

She _totally_ approved of the relationship, finding her older daughter and Kushina`s son being a match in heaven. Plus, the woman had no such prejudices as the breeding between humans or vampires, like her husband`s. In fact, Hiashi didn't have either, but his position as the clan`s leader, as well as Hinata`s title as the rightful heiress were pressing him into making outrageous compromises.

But it surely didn't stop Hinata to wrap one of her favorite most elegant and deluxe dazzling little black dress around her curvaceous petite ethereal silhouette, take Naruto`s calloused comforting warm hand into her much smaller delicate one and join him to one of their favorite dining places in the town.

Plus, the chances of encountering undesirable obnoxious figures there were slim. Not to mention that it was FAR away from the dreadful malls, boring lounges with uber expensive prices and ridiculous beverages, crowded markets, yelling people and training grounds.

And overprotective fathers and cousins!

"T-The next weeks a-are going to b-be very hectic." Hinata stated, while both casually enjoyed their meal. Naruto was slurping from his Ramen bowl, frowning and glaring at the pair behind Hinata, who kept on throwing weary glances in his direction. Old decrepit motherfuckers.

The blonde Uzumaki knew what she was talking about. It was just that extremely boring annoying period of the year, when the majority of his friends, minus Shikamaru and he, would get high on caffeine and waltz like zombies through the library`s long eerie halls, dreaming, eating and chanting all sorts of odd lessons from the subjects they were studying, pulling extreme overnight learning sessions like total nerds, virtually being dead to the social world.

Bunch of losers. Even Sasuke was spending more time than necessary filling up his sparkling skull with criminal and civil laws that made him cringe, totally taking advantage of the freakiness around and escape from hanging out with them.

But that didn't count in Naruto`s view, because the Uchiha was socially retarded. Just like Neji. And that one was even worse. He thought that Destiny came to him one night, clad in porn Santa red lingerie, placing the book of world`s history on his lap, urging him to learn every single line by heart.

"I have e-eight upcoming written exams, an o-oral and a group project." The beautiful siren with lavender orbs hummed to her lover, already feeling her skin drain of the rosy cute blush. College was no joke. Even if they were vampires and loaded as hell, they had no privileges when it came to studying.

"Yeah, well I truly hope we would still be able to at least meet up like thi-" Naruto abruptly stopped his rant, while his cerulean eyes caught the flickering of something familiar at the corner of his eyes, on the upper floor. And he started to grin mischievously like a wicked goblin with naughty thoughts, rubbing his palms together, in the same manner of a madman plotting the world domination.

He couldn't have imagined it, could he? Hinata curled a fine eyebrow up, staring at him confused, then whipped her head towards her shoulder, following his sight of view. And her lavender touched pupil less orbs went wide in puzzlement.

What the hell?! "I say…" Naruto started, totally voicing out her unspoken words. "…that things are going to become rather _interesting_."

There, in the same restaurant, on his _favorite_ dinning spot –that he reserved only when he met with his family members, especially his mother and his brother- dressed formally and elegantly, being totally out of his character, smirking more than usual and wider than normal…was no other than Sasuke Uchiha, his notorious mismatched best friend.

And he was in the exquisite presence of a gorgeous _woman_ that he hasn't seen before.

Things were getting heated. "I say we act like we haven't seen anything. I want to see where this is going." The Uzumaki whispered to his nodding pale eyed loved one. He observed that Hinata was also smiling widely, probably fancying the same things as him: whoever that exotic beauty with the most vivacious and uncommon hair color in the world was, she might have been someone _special_.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

If someone was to ask Sakura what was more mesmerizing, she would not be able to give a proper answer. Everything was just too surreal to be put into words: the food was making her insides reel in bliss, her view was graced with flickering warm red and golden lights and candelabras, the live band was caressing her eardrums, she was clad in the most beautiful dress, that she didn't have the pleasure to wear on her graduation prom and in the company of the most breathtaking man, who kept on charming her in more ways than one.

Slowly, but surely Sakura found it more and more easier to open up in front of Sasuke, while he was disclosing bits of his tumultuous life, some being funnier than the others. She especially enjoyed his stories about the most important people in his life and his friends. Sure, he refrained from abusing the word too much, but she understood that he cared about them deeply.

Also, he let her know more about vampires and occasionally smirked at her innocent silly questions about vampires, such as their need to sleep or bathe or walk freely in the sun. He advised her to stop watching popular vampire movies and even recommended her some not so famous ones, but more accurate for they were based on real facts and had vampire directors.

She found out –among many episodes of deep blushes and the need to crawl under the table- that even vampires could give birth and reproduce, which was fascinating by default, since they were not actually living souls, so it was something very poetic and hypothetical to create life from the absence of it.

It went without saying that Sasuke absolutely couldn't stop himself from not fructifying the chance to make her flush with embarrassment when not so subtly told her that he could grant her a full steamy experience of making love with a vampire if her desires were such and even went as far as to smirk at the way she dropped her eyes down her plate and squirmed under his intense amused lingering stare.

How could he say those things to her in such a…sinfully should be illegal sexy, hot and sensual way? But more importantly…why was she starting to get that tingling queasy feeling inside the pits of her stomach, and why were her lips getting dry and hot when she was looking on his own thin lips curled in that droolicious smirk of his, like she couldn't help but want to have a _taste_?

Her train of thoughts has been interrupted by the same onyx eyed vampire that she was fantasizing about –what an unladylike shameful thing to do- who slipped a hand into his dark suit coat, revealing a rectangular dark chocolate gift box, with a golden ribbon on the lid, pushing it with the tip of his fingers into her direction, while keeping her trapped in an alluring eye lock.

She eyed him in a funny way, not understanding what she should do or how to react, throwing befuddled glances from the mysterious fancy wrapped box to Sasuke, who was expecting her to do something, and not just ogle him like an idiot.

Surely, he wasn't thinking that she was stupid. Not even close. In fact, his total atypical gesture even surprised him.

"It is for you." He simply told her, and the rosette took the box in her slightly sweating hands, biting her lower lip and slowly, as if she didn't believe her eyes that something as utopic as receiving gifts from someone could have happened to someone like her, she pushed the box open with her thumbs and gasped.

"T-This is-" She couldn't even find the words to be shocked, dumbfounded, puzzled, amazed, astonished and perplexed. "…oh my _God_!" There, under her starry widened in shock emerald orbs, was the most mesmerizing _necklace_ she has ever seen in her life.

She had absolutely zero idea of how much money has Sasuke spent on that masterful piece of jewelry –she didn't even want to start to imagine it either- but it knocked the wind out of her lungs. The finesse and precision of the shimmering red brilliant, in the peculiar sensual and elegant shape of a tear drop, from the pendant was breathtaking.

She raised it up and held the necklace in front of her amazed enchanted viridian orbs, while taking notice of each gleam of its translucent reflections in the warm honey lights of the chandeliers. Each face of that crystal or whatever precious gemstone it was, was neatly polished, it surface smooth and entrapped each ray of light, scintillating with an astonishing elegance and beauty.

There was an intricate beautiful fine floral filigree pattern on the necklace, which she guessed was made of pure gold, judging from the intensity of the rich honey color and its gleam. It felt feather light in her hands, yet the execution, the shape, the modern, fancy, exquisite, yet charming, feminine and fresh touch, were splendid and supreme.

Trapped in her haze, totally focusing on the electric reflection of the precious pure red wine inset of the pendant, mirroring the sparkle of her green jade orbs, Sakura failed to notice that Sasuke rose from his seat, cut the distance between them, coming to stand right behind her.

A pair of two hands came to encircle her shoulders, coming to rest upon her own, startling her, yet she didn't dare to turn around to face the gorgeous dark haired man, for she could feel it on the radiating warmth that he was dangerously close to her, so she just followed spell bounded how his fingers slipped under her own, carefully taking the necklace from her hands.

She saw him unclasp the spring-ring vermeil clasp, with the swiftness, easiness and elegance of a jeweler and when he let the necklace fall gracefully around her neck, she felt her heart skipping a beat. His fingers brushed her rose locks of her nape, while he sealed the precious piece of jewelry around her neck forever.

But what truly made her mind blow in a maze of fireworks, were the two words that he breathed to her in his eternal low baritone delicious voice: "Happy birthday."

She remained stupefied while he went as silent as a tender whisper in the limbs of the night. How did he-

"-It was the last thing you said before you jumped off the bridge." He answered her question, reading her mind like a mantra. " _Happy birthday to me_. This is what you said."

Of course! She remembered then. She attempted to commit suicide on her birthday, from all the times. And Sasuke actually remembered it, even in he wasn't in his best state! Something flickered inside her, something stronger than the torch of an ancient Greek temple sent her heart into flames, an emotion like no other has been brought to light by those single words and his gift, while a pool of crystalline tears bloomed at the corner of her orbs.

She was _not_ supposed to feel her emerald orbs moisture, while salty tears fell along her curled long eyelashes like pearls on lace, she was _not_ supposed to shot from her seat, while pushing her chair back, making it scratch on the luscious floor, she was _not_ supposed to swirl around to face Sasuke, while her dress fluttered like a dragonfly`s soft translucent wings and she was definitely _not_ supposed to reach for his slightly taken aback persona, wrap her hands around her broad chiseled chest and glue her cheek on his heart, whispering to him.

"T-Thank…you, Sasuke." It was the first time in her life when Sakura felt like crying tears of happiness and joy. And when a pair of warm fondling herculean arms folded around her waist, she couldn't help but feel her heart skip a beat while something she hasn't felt before for anyone made her lightheaded and sent her senses straight to Nirvana.

"Saku-" Sasuke didn't even had the chance to let his body dictate the peace of his actions, since he was nowhere prepared or having an idea of how to respond to such a fragile tender declaration of gratitude –and something else, but he was afraid to even think of it, since first time he learn of that was the moment his heart petrified- before his stare caught the sight of something he dreaded to turn around and confirm, reflecting in the oval shaped crystals of the golden lamp in front of him.

He half whipped his head towards his shoulder, not wanting to break the contact with Sakura, who was cuddling into his chest like a baby lamb seeking for his mother, just to meet with a sight that almost had him jump down and bark at someone who seemed to have been witnessing _everything_ that transpired between Sakura and him.

And that thought alone made him see red. Out of all the living creatures in the Universe, it had to be _that_ particular ridiculous utterly imbecile cretin, who was having the gasp of the century sprawled on all his unserious looking foxy dumb face.

Onyx narrowed dangerously orbs locked with flabbergasted widened cerulean ones, staying there for two good seconds, that felt like two millennia.

It was exactly in the moment when he realized that his best friend has caught him staring at the way the beautiful rose haired woman threw herself into his arms, embracing the very same man who seemed to be having given her quite an expensive gift, with the ardor and the passion of a lover, has Naruto promptly chocked on his Ramen.

 _Uh-Oh._

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

 **AN** : _My deepest gratitude for everyone who took their time to read this story and even share some feedback with me._

 **suri** thank you, I hope this one chapter was on your liking.

 **Guest** I am sorry for this late delay.

 **Hyper Reader** I am glad you like my version of a vampire story. Your encouraging words are very welcomed. Thank you. I can promise that I will not abandon this story. Don`t worry, Sakura is not going to stay forever on the safe zone;)

 **randilynnbaby18** I am glad you liked this chapter. Of course, I am going to continue writing it.

 **Tiger Priestess** I know what you mean. It took me just as much to read and correct the mistakes. Thank you for taking your time and give my story a chance:) Well yeah, I suppose that you can put it like that, though I didn`t intend to write this as a typical relationship that goes celestial. I want them to be bounded by feelings more than...fate. I want some mystery to linger on Itachi`s character, but I don`t really want the two brothers to be at war. I had enough of that in the manga. I will go into more details about Sakura`s parents later on -not so late though. Although I am sure you can assume who she is already?

 **hifi** I am glad to see you following this story as well. Your feedback on the other of my stories hasn`t gone unnoticed and for that I am grateful, thank you! Glad you like this story as well. No, of course I will not neglect the other stories. I am working on updates, if this helps;) But I just had to write this story. I love vampires and related stories, especially Sasuke Sakura ones.

 **ElevatedJewel** Just as your stories, your reviews always get me on the verge of tears. You know exactly what I want to say and your words simply comprise my idea, but your invaluable feedback makes me to keep on going on writing. Yeah, I truly remember our conversation and I must confess that initially, I had another idea of a bigger vampire project stuck on my mind, but that one was based on the local folklore. I still think about that, but I am not sure I want to fill the space here with another folklore and mythology oriented, since there are already so many. I agree with you, Sasuke is just as hot and mysterious as it can be. He is perfect in such dark roles. Thank you for always finding the best ways to let me know how blessed I am to having met such incredible readers, authors and people like you. You are an undying source of inspiration and a role model.

 **SasusakuLove5ever** May I say that I too fangirl over him as a vampire? Writing his character is always a challenge and a pleasure. Thank you for the feedback and I am glad you like this story. Hope you enjoyed this update as well.

 **itsbritneybitch** I hope that this chapter gave you some insight into the world of vampires as I imagine it. I will surely give my best into building up a backstory for Sakura that isn`t going to be shallow and boring. I hope I will get it right. Of course, in my mind, Sasuke is not the one to be tamed or be manipulated. He wasn`t in the manga and so I want to preserve that part of his character in my stories as well, but I will try and bring up some deep emotions that he hasn`t portrayed, especially his feelings for Sakura. I want this to be centered on this pair alone, with the side development of the other characters. Thank you so much. I know you follow other of my stories as well and for that I am extremely jolly and grateful. I truly like details in my story, hence the long descriptions. I will not give it up, believe it hehe

 **degrassi fan da21** Thank you, I am trying my best to bring to the light every dominant and hidden feelings, thoughts and emotions in every of my character. I hope I will succeed in making them complex and realistic. Thank you for pinpointing this and bringing it into my attention. I am well aware of the fact that I have many flaws, but I am trying to improve my writing skills, so please be patient with me, English is not my first language. Thank you again for the review and for reading this story.

 **lovesasusakuforever** For always having a prompt reply and such beautiful words to say, I am forever grateful to you. Your support is enough to keep me on doing my best to explore new Sasuke and Sakura universes and come up with more inspiring ideas. It is a blessing to have such readers who love this pair as much as I do. Thank you so much, I am glad you like this story as well.

 _Many thanks to all of you who are willing to give this story a chance, read, follow, favorite and even grace me with a dear feedback. You guys are legendary!_

 _Till next time..._


	3. Imperfect melodies of a sad violin

**::Chapter III: Imperfect** _melodies_ **of a sad** _violin_ **::**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **:::** At the gates of Paradise,

A sinner has knocked,

His face was of an angel`s,

But his soul was _dead_.

His eyes were like **blood** ,

While his heart was crystal cold,

His entrapping _smile_ was poisonous,

His inviting _lips_ were venom.

I tasted them all and **lost** my own.

I gave up my **radiance** , to dance on the darkness` strings,

On the illusion of his chimerical sinful dream,

And I was a goner.

His beauty pierced my soul,

And one **heartbeat** later,

I lost my wings and burned my mind **:::**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 _What was going on?_ his mind kept on clutching to every reasonable explanation he found to explain that need to forgo to the exuberant tight embrace, a thing he did without too much second thought. When Sakura shot up from her seat, whisked her body towards him and slide her hands under his armpits, throwing herself into his chest, entwining themselves into the same brisk energy glowing between their glued bodies, she took Sasuke by surprise completely.

He didn't think it was possible for someone to be able to sneak inside the deepest darkest catacombs of his heart and bring such underlying emotions back to light from him, but she was doing it so damn effortlessly and genuinely, that it made his steel like guard crumble under the touch of her hand.

He couldn't prevent his own hands to lift upon her shoulders, lingering a moment to knead on her bare bones, having a latent thirst dry the back of his throat at the feel of her delightful smooth soft cashmere skin, enfolding around her shoulders and he actually find it in him to smirk.

It was almost unperceivable, as dainty as the landing of a bumble bee upon a tulip`s silk petals, but his sharp hearing has caught it anyways: she actually hummed contently like she has held in her breath, anticipating a rejection, strengthening the hold she had on him, interlacing her fingers behind his back.

"Thank you, Sasuke." Had he known that something so trivia and small would bring her so much delight, he would have made her a mausoleum of sparkling gold and fine jewelry, but Sasuke knew that the rosette was nowhere that elicited by materialistic shiny things entirely, but the gesture behind and the deeper meaning. "Thank you so much."

There have been decades –centuries almost-since someone has ever got close enough to step into his playground, let alone embrace him, but the onyx eyed Uchiha vampire couldn't deny Sakura, he didn't intend to and didn't want to. Part of him, was constantly nullifying the idea of him not being able to stop her display of intimate affection –it definitely lacked the scent of amity gracefulness- even if he wished to do it, simply because he didn't want to be caught in the infinite carousel of intricate feelings, which left him with scars to last for as long as time had mercy on him.

 _Feelings would only be cured by other stronger ones._ A voice at the back of his head, lurking and flaunting to get his attention, kept on stammering to him, but Sasuke chose not to listen to it. He would not let her in so far, he decided. It was too dangerous even if the sublime temptation has beautified the image of her, to the finest work of art, she wouldn't see those feelings from him.

Their agreement has already stepped to the other side of the borderline, flapping the grey area to the other side of the unexplored development of their possible relationship. She would give him her blood and he would grant her happiness.

 _Oh God_. Were they both in need to check up their heads? Happiness was a paramount universal emotion, sought, yearned for and cherished by both vampires and human, and there he was, having a slip of a tongue and promised to try and give her a taste.

She was asking so little from him, yet the poetical intelligent young beautiful angelic woman had an esoteric way to put the sweetest truths in front of the fascination for material luxury in front, being so sublime different than all the rest, that it made his own world quiver.

There he was, the headstrong, independent, terrific Uchiha heir, welcoming a woman in the realm of silence, solitude and coldness, that was his fancy house, thinking if all the psychological battle with his relatives` indoctrinated inflexible ontology, theories and conceptions wasn't getting a toll on him.

"You didn't have to go that far for someone like _me_ …but thank you." Her chimerical siren voice brought him back to his favorite restaurant and it was then when Sasuke realized that some were started to watch at their intimate moment and the intense embracing, probably recognizing the raven haired man but never his mysterious beautiful rose haired companion.

"The stone reminds me of you." He simply told her, not wanting to brag about the shimmering gemstone that flashed before his curious eyes, while he waited for her to dress in the clothes he brought for her, from the opposite store.

It was like destiny stretched his limbs and gave him a gentle push in the right direction, conveniently placing the jewelry shop right across the street, going inside and purchasing the necklace for Sakura being all inconspicuous and secretive, hiding it from her.

But he simply couldn't ignore the fact that he could so elegantly let her know that something as important as the birth of a soul could be a little miracle by itself, and not a heavy burden which screamed for alleviation, so that was why he emphasized the importance of her spending her first birthday party without thinking to suicide and how bad she hated karma, faith, destiny and life for making her go through all the pain alone.

Because a good part of him understood her all too well and shared her suffering. Plus, it looked so fitting around her neck and did another marvelous job, beside decorating her porcelain rose smooth skin, adding sophistication and gentility to her feminine appearance, namely, successfully and subtly covering the two markings along her pulse, as the unbeatable proofs of his fangs tasting her.

If anything, he didn't want the other members of the vampire community to take sardonic arrogant glances at her, foolishly thinking of her as a pitiful idiot human who served as a piece of meat and entertainment for the breathtakingly irresistible vampire prince, or worse, nurture powerful feelings of jealousy because she was under his wing and try to harm her in anyways.

He almost sneered at the idea of Sakura easily passing as a vampire female without a problem, since she was overshadowing most of them in cultivated beauty and delicacy. No one would ever know that she was in fact a mortal. The only way was the feel the beat of her pulse running through her veins.

If the creeping blush prickling her earlobes and veiling her cheeks in a cute shade of burgundy wasn't a solid enough proof to emphasize her shyness and flattery at his words, then the way she glued her temple on his chest did the trick.

By Heavens, the words that swing out of his delectable lips were making her heart infuse with all sorts of zealous twinkling energies, making the poor organ skip two beats. She had no idea of what game was he playing, she had no cultivation in the art of flirt and she wouldn't recognize a well-versed artist in this field, but what Sasuke was doing to her, felt too good to be true.

Whatever he did, he did it so well, so superb, so irresistible, so unpredictable, but having the same eternal elegance, splendor and radiating nobility in his laid back demeanor, that it was leaving her breathless and more connected to his world of mysteries, which normally, would have been out of her league, intangible, superior and mystified.

Why she didn't want to let him go, was sure enough predictable. The moment she felt the handsome Uchiha return her embrace instead of pushing her aside, even aware of the fact that he was probably not the one to welcome physical contact so eagerly, Sakura lost her touch with the floor.

His warm breath was fanning into her cherry tinted hair, relaxing her, she could smell every single high note of his intoxicated masculine spicy cologne and it was Paradise Garden`s most sacred concoction in terms of refinement, luxury and manhood, his touch on her bare skin was helplessly beckoning her to try and mold her more petite frame deeper into his own embrace, she was quivering and trembling of a jittery desire swaying along her spine and she was left… _wanting_ him.

She was as pure as a maiden in the nest of Rome`s ancient sacred temples, but she felt another more resplendent desire blooming within the pits of her belly replacing her shy virtue with a sensual longing fascination for the raven haired man. She yearned to touch him too, feel the sparkles of skin on skin contact, taste his lips, feel his body swinging with her own and maybe let him do what she could feel he knew: _have_ her.

Since when was Sakura thinking of such shameful, scandalous, sinful things? She couldn't help it though, she was a lost young woman thrown in the middle of a glamorous word, in the embrace of luxury, cultivation, education and refinement`s most transcendent work of art: Uchiha Sasuke.

The vampire Prince with the most heavenly beautiful onyx eyes and his charming smirk, which was always managing to tickle her pink. He was to put it simply, any girl or woman`s most idyllic sensual definition of a man: sparkling intelligent, unbelievably beautiful, implacable strong and more than wealthy.

Plus, she loved the way he talked to her. Never too offensive, he refrained from using curse words or vulgar language, he wasn't speaking much, but he was intense, precise, deep, wise and forward. Yes, it was her own guilty little pleasure to have him engaged into a conversation, but Sakura couldn't help it.

It was in the back of her mind and buried on her tongue, he wouldn't know of it if she wouldn't tell him. And maybe the fact that he wasn't one to talk too much and useless, despite him being smooth and eloquent, was making her more eager to hear that onyx eyed Uchiha talk to her more. His fluency was coating her fluttering heart in honey and colors.

Unbeknownst to her, Sasuke was having similar thoughts. During their little dinner, Sakura has been very vocal and expressive, when talking about the smallest most meaningful things that was dear to her, subjects she deemed as intriguing and interesting, and Sasuke found himself actually listening, responding, sharing experiences and smirking when her doey scintillating orbs filled with vivid images, actually letting Sasuke envision fragments of her life –not the most depressing details, she kept those far from the comfort of their elegant date- thought the lens of her eyes, like an old recording camera, recreating sepia images.

He was charmed by those emerald orbs of hers. They were polished with a buoyant brilliance, engrossing Sasuke into every word she spoke and she was actually even more educated than he would have anticipated.

Even as having to basically live inside the library since books to buy was an intangible unimaginable luxury for someone like her, Sakura had a vast acknowledge in various different subjects, like math, physics, literature, chemistry, botanic or biology. And she jolly let him know that she was particularly biased about human anatomy and ancient history and mythology. Those were her oasis of a parallel universe that saved as a sweet escape from the harsh reality.

Sasuke couldn't help but smirk at the way her eyes popped out of their sockets when he let her know that his library was stuffed with everything of the aforementioned and she was free to wander to the content of her heart. She smiled to him in that way that made him narrow his orbs and gaze at those delicious looking –and tasting- lips more than necessary, thinking about what was so charming at the girl that had him trapped.

True, Sasuke would have told her that his parents` old library would make her feel like Alice in Wonderland, having more than 900k volumes, including the oldest collections that were as rare as they were inestimable, but first he had to get rid of his father`s absolutely imbecile opposition to his manner of thinking.

 _Damn idiot_. Maybe he would take Sakura to his old home and introduce her to another part of his past and his mother. Yes, even considering that she was who she was, Mikoto would find her delicacy and purity as mesmerizing as he did. In fact, the rosette was very reminiscent to his angelic mother, in more than beauty and heart of gold.

But all the lyrical and most musical thoughts about the incredible woman who crossed paths with him by chance went straight on the window when Sasuke`s pearl black orbs bump into the most distinctive shade of ocean blue like Poseidon`s realm hues, staring right back at him, astonished.

One of the most idiotic facial expressions almost had Sasuke vanish in thin air, materialize in front of the owner of those aquamarine eyes and punch the living daylights out of him for ruining what he secretly deemed as the perfect way to have dinner, was washing past the owner`s goofy face.

Naruto fucking Uzumaki was on the floor below, in his favorite dinning spot, with his lilac haired charming girlfriend –probably sneaking past Hiashi`s vigilance- ogling him and Sakura in a way that should be illegal, because it polluted the air with idiocy, dumbness and flabbergast.

What a stupid idiot of a best friend he had. And why, oh why was Naruto _there,_ from all the places, and exactly an the same time as he and Sakura did? He didn't need that idiot`s never ceasing bickering, mockery and sure as Hell, when his star stuck foolish expression has been quickly swept with a goofy foxy debauched grin, Sasuke knew that he should make a run for it or leave like an English man.

"Oi, Sasuke- _Teme_!" Too… damn… late. Sasuke might have promptly slapped his forehead in annoyance before fisting his quivering fingers into a fist to send Naruto skyrocketing on Mars for his audacity to _shout_ at him in a high class deluxe restaurant, where only the crème de la crème fancied to eat delicacies and sumptuous aperitifs and where, surely enough, everyone knew both the Uchiha Uzumaki, as well as the Hyugas.

A quick flicker of his obsidian hues on Hinata`s royally embarrassed and apologetically ones assured Sasuke that there was at least one sane person beside Naruto who also found his completely crack behavior childish, noisome and repellent.

Basically, the entire damn clients along with the personnel of the restaurant whisked their eyes and heads in said direction, some reacting to the famous name –among the vampires- and some simply curious at whoever the owner of the resonating name might have been –or the fried of the childish rude obnoxious honking idiot.

It was beyond humiliating, but then again, when wasn't Naruto the one to get Sasuke in all sorts of deplorable situations? And the dobe wasn't even drunk to justify his behavior, no, he was just being his normally stupid self.

 _What a major_ _cretin._

Then he was reminded that he in fact, wasn't alone. Sakura, stupefied at the appellative and the suffix that the wielder of the resonating cheerful voice added to her benefactor`s name, poked her head from under his slant arm to follow the direction of the ruckus and she actually giggled.

For the same thing that made Hinata`s cheeks beat the challenge of a velvet bloody horizon at dawn out of shame: it was not that she would ever feel flustered by her lover`s behavior, for she loved him tenderly, deeply and sincerely for exactly who he was, but because there was a piece of noodle stuck to his full lower lip, swaying with every jerk of his cocking head, while his fluttering hand had his ominous looking malice ebony eyed friend roll his hues until they hit the back of his head.

And he was so goddamn funny to see, that Sakura couldn't quite compose herself. Her shoulders tottered, she curled more into Sasuke`s arms –he not once let his arms loose from around her petite slender outline, even if Naruto caught them hugging each other- and continued to jitter.

Hinata on the other hand, wrapped her expression with her palms, stifling her laughter and flush. All the eyes were darting from the odd pair to the loving embracing couple from the first floor. Of course that Naruto wouldn't let such an opportunity to taunt his friend slip past his fingers now that he couldn't go unnoticed –who would, with _eyes_ like the Uchiha`s?- and talk him into spewing everything about who the mystery woman was.

His mouth didn't stop from attracting scoffs and frowns. "Getting cozy without telling us, your friends, huh?" He could clearly decipher the evilness waltzing into Sasuke`s bloody murderous black sapphire orbs and Naruto knew that the Uchiha wanted to kill him right on his spot. The way he was glaring at his absolutely unfazed deep blue eyed best comrade was enough to let everyone know that the Uchiha vampire Prince was anything but impressed by his performance.

Like the amused Uzumaki could give a damn about those infamous Uchiha stares. They sent shivers rolling down to every spine, minus Naruto`s. He was immune to that, since he was Sasuke`s best friend. At most ,it made him snort lauder. "C`mon Hinata- _chan_ , let`s go upstairs and ask all the most embarrassing questions we can think of and find out who was able to steal this Bastard`s heart."

He spun around to breath at his beautiful lavender eyed girlfriend, who in return was not sure it was such a good idea to meddle into the Uchiha`s business. Sasuke was normally a very tempered and collected man, but when he lost his cool those rare times were terrific. "She must be someone of a tremendous strength to be able to move that boulder in his chest." Naruto continued, pinpointing at his friend`s handicap to form long lasting bonds with someone else who was not from his entourage ever since that loathsome ex fiancé of his broke his heart.

Yes, Naruto despised that woman with the price of all the hate his kind heart was able to muster and he had his inner demon, _Kurama_ , the menacing _Nine Tailed Fox_ to despise her for both of them. But…stretching his hand politely to the elegant Madame accompanying him that night, inviting her to silently follow him in his journey of embarrassing Sasuke and finding out who the mystery stranger with the brightest shade of hair he has ever seen was.

"I-I don't t-think that this is s-such a good i-idea, Naruto-kun." Nonetheless, Hinata placed her hand in Naruto`s expecting one, she too being extremely curious of who the rose haired lady was, knowing all too well that Sasuke has never been seen in the pleasurable company of a woman –as in his date- in such a long _long_ time.

Yes, she knew he liked to fool around with various stunning women, who were crawling at his feet, but they were only worth a good steamy night and never something serious. His last ghost of a relationship didn't last more than half a month, so that was strange and she was someone from his social circle, and the noble Hyuga knew everyone as anyone with a good family background and a resonating name knew her.

But Sakura was someone she hasn't ever seen. Both her and Naruto were perplexed to find out that a stranger from the outside has managed to get so familiar with Sasuke, since he was hardly opening up to his friends and family, let alone a drifter. That woman must have been valiant to aim so high, it was a thing that crossed both of the approaching couple`s minds.

 _Or extremely special._ They both added mentally.

"He knows your name. Is he a friend?" Sasuke could see that Sakura was terrible amused by Naruto`s outburst, but he was busy glaring daggers first at the blonde haired idiot, then the clients` around, silently inviting them to go fuck themselves and mind their own business, which they did. Take a glare from one wielder of the Uchiha surname and you will think twice before even entertaining the idea of breathing in their general direction.

"If anything, he is one major loser and he hasn't changed one bit since we first met." Emerald orbs stroll from the approaching mysterious man with a radiating smile and vivid azure orbs and his astonishing beautiful company, to Sasuke`s onyx ones and she found him gazing down at her.

It came as an ultimate test of gutsy to conceal the blush threatening to come into her cheeks when his orbs bore so deeply into hers. No one ever looked at her like that. Hadn't it been for her shaper intuition and sparkling intelligence and flawless ruminating memory, Sakura would have gravely mistaken Sasuke`s mocking playful tone for a darker vile once towards the honey kissed man.

"He is Naruto, right? Uzumaki Naruto, your best friend. The one you referred to as the number one hyperactive knucklehead! The _dobe_!" Oh, Sasuke might not be a vocal man, he being someone who still managed to be tactful and high class, without beating around the bush, but he actually told her about his entourage and friends, and definitely Naruto has spiced up all the stories.

She had a good time listening to Sasuke coating his apparently grave annoyed tone, revealing deep roots of an unbreakable bond with the energetically man. She also knew that he was in a complicated position due to his lineage and infatuation with another very prominent lady, like Sasuke, namely Hyuga Hinata. Sakura quickly put two and two together. She was the woman ascending the stairs to their table and true to Sasuke`s words, she looked like a shy pearl, hiding within the nest of her shell, afraid of her own shadow.

"Unfortunately, yes. Do not let him assault with idiotic questions. He likes to barge in everyone`s lives, like a mother-in-law. Feel free to punch him if he gets too annoying."

She promptly burst out laughing, while part of her sulked when Sasuke let his hands wrapped protectively around her back, slide along her forearms –he actually took his time for his touch to linger on her perspiring skin, more than necessary, to let her melt like caramel under his spell- feeling it unnecessary to dismay themselves in front of the bouncing idiot howling atop his lungs: "Take a look at that, this one Bastard has finally decided to be a man and come out of his husk! Haha, isn't it _cuuute_ Hinata-chan?"

Seriously, what would it be the price to pay if he would leash out and strangle the obnoxious idiot of his friend right there and then, Sasuke mentally wondered, while doing his best to let his stoic Uchiha genes wrap his escalading fury in detachment and passiveness. He wasn't one to lose cool in public and have Naruto brag about being the one to bring such extreme emotions manifest. His self-control was better than that, and so was his stoicism.

So the Uchiha merely crept a perfect fine raven eyebrow up and welcomed him with his eternal signature "Hn." Which was both meant to keep people at distance, signalizing his lack of interest to acknowledge their presence and engage into a conversation, as well as to highlight his annoyance of unrequested parasites following him suit, when they should have stayed the fuck downstairs, stuffing their foxy faces with ridiculously high gluten food and mind their own business.

All because he knew it annoyed the hyperactive blonde to no end. He crossed his arms upon his broad chest, cocked his head on the side to underline the effect of his sneering velvet tone and jeered. "An idiot pretending to be an aristocrat, dropping by here uninvited and invading people`s privacy."

Naruto, upon sensing the finest source of entertainment coming to him for free, namely laugh his ass out loud at Sasuke`s ridiculous attempt to be chivalrous and appear as impressive in front of the mystery girl who seems to be just as amused as him, beamed even wider, marching towards his friend until he was one step further from him and presented his greetings by punching Sasuke square in the shoulder, with enough force to put a frown on his gorgeous face and wrinkle his clothes.

Other than that, the Uchiha hasn't even flinched, though Sakura was certain that he heard joints crack and bones jitter. Naruto knew what he was doing, for he and the raven haired man were basically inseparable, even if for the most of the outsiders it might seem that they couldn't stand each other`s presence.

Even if Sasuke was undeniable a formidable splendid fighter and a force to be reckoned with and not a vampire or a man to be taken lightly, being as poisonous and sharp as a swift cobra, nesting into the pits of earth, deep inside, he nurtured really conflicting emotions, which were leaving his heart exposed and as fragile as glass. Frozen, steel and unable to connect so intimately to someone, but still breakable, so that was why he was all so able to penetrate his bubble and fructify that acknowledge he had on him.

Plus, it was their own unique way of telepathically communicate, enter each other`s consciousness and find out about the **real heartbeats**. No, it wasn't a power that Naruto had on Sasuke –and vice versa- because he was his  friend, not his enemy. In fact, judging by the intricate incredible history of their ancestors and their monumental connected feelings, they were close enough to brothers.

Not blood relatives, but ones that understood each other`s pain. It was an even more sublime link than genetics could create.

"You are such a _Teme_ for not letting us know that you," Naruto whipped his head towards the staring rosette, flashed her his blinding winning grin, assessing the type of women that was making his friend so edgy and cautious –not to mention intimate and mushy- when introducing her to his friends. "were on a _date_."

Oh, the way that moron dropped that word made Sasuke cringe and inwardly go through all the most vicious curses he knew, clenching his jaw until he felt his teeth clatter, clicking on his tongue, barely preventing himself from snapping at him. The blond dobe was taunting him, that much was visible, meaning he wanted to confirm whether Sakura was a plaything or the **real** thing.

He had no doubt that Naruto already read her aura and found out that Sakura was human, not a vampire. That was the reason why he took his time and do a quick check up on her, but at least he was being subtle and discreet, not spiking up his chakra to an unnecessary high level and attract undesired attention.

There were vampires around who would find it troublesome to be witnesses to such unmannered display of excessive outgoing behavior in such a fine place, meant for entertainment and leisure, especially when Sasuke and Naruto were the _promoters_ of blending into the world of mortals and act as normal as possible, refraining from taking advantage and display their vampire abilities.

"What do you want?" He all but spat at the blonde, while briefly and invisibly nodded once to Hinata and she did the same, being polite with the noble fine Hyuga lady. But it was some other story with Naruto. The words _'polite'_ and _'refinement'_ had nothing to do with the way they treated each other.

Fists, 'bastards', 'idiots' and bickerings were perfectly depicting their odd relationship. And Sakura was there, reading their attitude and gestures, learning, analyzing, comparing Sasuke`s insight stories with the real thing, judging and formulating her own inklings.

"Being sociable, what else? Not everyone walks with a ten feet pole stuck up their asses and be complete pricks. Plus, I want to make sure you don't scare this pretty lady here too much with those scary faces of yours."

 _Wow_ , it was the first thing that surged through Sakura`s mind while staring at Naruto and she actually couldn't believe her eyes that someone so solar could be friends with a man like Sasuke. They were the total opposite of one another, just in the same manner as yin and yang interlaced their fingers and created the perfect mini replica of the universe`s glorious ultimate façade.

While the half vampire and half human Uzumaki –Sasuke briefed her about that too- was radiating a stellar energy, being all cordial, warm, open, approachable with strangers, comfortable enough to be vocal in his thoughts, sanguine, extrovert and unconcerned, the ebony haired Uchiha was the very epitome of the bleeding crimson tranquil December nights. Aloof, reserved, composed, levelheaded and impenetrable.

Day and night, **wind** and **fire** , one was easy like a morning spring cool breeze brushing over her temples and making her hair flutter, while the other one was the scorching fire which enticed dark desires within her body.

 _A friend and a lover._

To prove his point, Naruto abruptly left his raven haired vampire friend`s frowning side and spun around to meet Sakura`s taken aback surprised emerald orbs, stretching his hand towards her and flashing her a heartwarming grin, which she returned with a small delicate polite smile of her own. "Uzumaki Naruto, this Bastard`s best friend!"

She shook his hand –he was a little bit too enthusiastic- while her shoulders relaxed upon the contact with his friendly warmth palm and introduced herself to the blond: "Haruno Sakura, nice too meet you."

"Oh trust me, Sakura- _chan_ , " He couldn't help but let his orbs flash towards Sasuke`s when he dropped the familiar friendly appellative just to barely stifle a grunt when he saw the ebony haired Uchiha gritting his teeth like he was standing on an ice cube the size of his heart, freezing and sending lethal glares to the entertained cerulean eyed man, making Naruto wonder whether his shooting lasers weren't puncturing his skin with its intensity. "the pleasure is all mine."

And it was, because judging from the way Sasuke`s hand surrounded her slim waist possessively, dragging her towards him and out of the getting too cozy and familiar Uzumaki dobe`s reach, Naruto quickly got the answer he was looking for: the extremely beautiful looking, gentle and innocent Sakura was not _just_ another exquisite fuck to Sasuke. There was more  transpiring between them and as stubborn as the blonde was, he would pull the words out of the raven haired Uchiha`s tight firmly pressed lips.

Sasuke more than howled the words in his face. "Now that you have futilely filled her mind with another useless name, get lost, idiot. We are busy."

Sakura fought the urge to squirm and melt into his firm half of an embrace when Sasuke took a step front, coming to stand conveniently in between Naruto and her, sliding a hand down her back, and stiffened his hold around her hips –a bit too low- feeling her cheeks burn and blush, averting her eyes from Naruto`s, to his silent stunning lavender haired companion and the girl had a small sheepish knowing smile on her face, nodding subtle to her like both saluting her and sharing her distress.

For the rose haired woman, it was more than crystal clear that the stranger with the translucent pearl pupil less orbs was a female vampire. Her beauty could have been depicted into poems, rhymes and verses about star dust and cosmos, her lunar intelligent and modest eyes and cascading luscious hair oozed of a calming lilac halo that reminded the rosette of the stories with nymphs playing in the waterfalls and she had an incredibly porcelain looking pure white dove silk skin, molding over her graceful curvaceous body, under the fitting elegant dress she wore.

Definitely not a human being. She was too beautiful and dignified for a mortal condition, yet her cute shyness and introvert self were definitely part of her once human soul. Sasuke briefed her about each vampire preserving certain unique dominants of character from their past lives and Sakura could definitely venture to guess that Hinata has never been easygoing and hyperactive like Naruto.

"Na-ah. Free Ramen on you, Teme. We stay." If looks could burn a person alive, Naruto would have been flaming like Vesuvius by the moment Naruto encircled the table to come and drag one of the available chairs for Hinata to have a sit –she reluctantly did, although she knew they were being a total _bother_ \- then the plunged on the other one, all the while feeling Sasuke`s vicious glare burning on his nape.

" _Dobe_ …" The unmoving Uchiha grounded dangerously low, and Sakura soon realized that his tone was so lethal and poisonous just because he was being so calm and collected and not manifesting a vocal and temperamental howl, like any other enraged man would do.

The calmer he was, the deadlier his stare became and the rosette knew that someone like Sasuke was only able to display such an astonishing grace and airy demeanor and walk just because of the enormous strength he possessed.

But so did the mysterious Naruto Uzumaki character, who stood his ground with an appreciative nonchalance, pertaining in the almost funny game of calling names and exchanging foamy threats, without pulling a muscle. He either had guts to challenge someone like the onyx eyed vampire, or had skills that could rival his own.

Sakura guessed that the blonde was the embodiment of both aforementioned. Plus, it was the first time when she heard Sasuke spurt profanities, but surprisingly it did nothing to diminish his charm, on the contrary, she swore her stomach squirmed in delight when fragments of him spraying those vulgarities in the realm of his bedroom, stark naked, sweating, growling, panting and down her ear, filled her getting glossy mind.

She wanted to slap her forehead, while hearing the handsome Uchiha click on his tongue, probably to bit back a really nasty retort to his friend` s childish and embarrassing behavior and squeezing the swell of her hipbone, leading her to sit back on her chair, reluctantly strolling towards his own seat.

 _What the heck was she thinking about?!_

"So," The eternal spiky haired sun kissed Uzumaki broke the silence again, while lifting up the menu and letting his azure orbs scan over its contents, a boyish goofy grin spread across his whiskered face. "how did you guys met?"

Of course he would ask that, it was a legitimate question, Sakura decided and before she had the chance to spill something embarrassing that she didn't want to confess, slightly letting her back sink further into the chair, Sasuke faked a cough, silently sending her a subtle message which she immediately caught on and clasped her lips.

She should let him do the talking, because like hell would Sasuke allow the emerald eyed beauty to confess that she wanted to commit suicide and avoid unnecessary drama to unfold. "I found her by the Great Naruko Bridge last night."

Having her fork raised towards her lips, to try and eat away her stress, by stuffing her face, successfully preventing her traitorous unschooled mouth to blurt out bits of the truth, Sakura almost chocked on her food, quickly lunging towards the honey golden bubbling glass of Champagne and emptied it in one single gulp.

 _What_ _did he just say?!_

"Really? Were you out there fishing, Sakura-chan?" Said rosette was still too stunned to talk, plus her rose tinted cheeks were burning from the brief lack of oxygen as she tried to convince herself that Sasuke wasn't that narrow minded to tell his friends the truth.

 _Right?_

"N-No, I-"

"She was drawing it."

She was _what_ _?!_

Three pairs of deadpanned figures turned to gasp at Sasuke who in return kept on staring languidly at each of them, jerking his shoulders, returning to his sipping of his glass, with less enthusiasm but more craze, trying to alleviate the anger bubbling inside him caused by no other than his imbecile best friend.

Of course he wouldn't have been so out of his damn mind to confide his and Sakura`s encounter up to the finest details, as well as their promise which followed suit. That was only between them. A secret deeply connecting solely Sakura and him and no one else would shove his nose into that business.

The less parties involved, the more chances of him fulfilling his promise was. Plus, he wouldn't stand the scrutinizing reproachful looks that Sakura might get from the other nonpartisans of her ideology. Yes, the rosette had strong motives and solid beliefs, yet she still remained an oblivious naïve extremist.

"Oh, this is soooo romantic!" The Uzumaki foolishly bought his smooth convenient white lie, grinning and winking suggestively at both the creeping crimson cherry blossom haired woman and his annoyed raven haired friend. "You guys are the work of the destiny."

Hinata on the other hand didn't believe a word that flew out of Sasuke`s sharp tongue, for she was a woman who could see the way Sakura` s stuttering emerald orbs kept on peeping at Sasuke like inwardly praying to him not to disclose something very personal and probably embarrassing.

And something else was also winding inside those beautiful gilt-edged unparalleled green jadeite-golden eyes, in those small moments when she gazed at the frowning Uchiha opposite to her and Hinata could feel her own romantic feelings ricochet into Sakura`s chest. Yup, whoever that uncomfortable looking woman was, she had a _thing_ for Sasuke. That was for sure but unlike all the other women buzzing around him, she didn't look like all that interested her was to fuck him or strip him off his money.

And that was the trait that piqued the Hyuga`s interest, when she made up her mind to have a private conversation with Sakura, confront her from woman to woman and see if the depths of her soul were just as genuinely cherry blossom tinted, even if she knew that Uchiha`s intrusive keen orbs have peel every layer of her persona and unraveled her inner self.

Either ways, he wouldn't have been so adamant in bringing her to his favorite restaurant, roar like a hurt lion when she and Naruto barged into their privacy and lie about their encounter. The sparkling marvelous necklace embellishing her slender neck has been a solid proof of their rather mysterious attachment.

"Don't you have anywhere _else_ to be annoying at, Naruto?" Oh, the feral way Sasuke almost groaned the words in his friend`s obnoxious face had the said blonde snort, while he flickered his fingers towards the waiter, who was right on his left side to take his order.

"Nope. I won't let you go away so easily. Not after there have been _decades_ since I have seen your brooding ass actually bring someone out on what looks like a real _date_ and not for getting shitfaced and have animalistic se-"

Sasuke coughed awkwardly once, sternly and silently warning Naruto about trailing off those horrendous and inelegant words, when in the presence of Sakura, who looked like she would have rather dig a hole with her spoon into the floor and crawl in the pits of earth, hiding in shame.

She didn't need to know about what he did with other women and how he did it, it was pointless, irrelevant and not to mention not something he would rather brag about, like some other major perverts and creeps from his –regrettably- entourage or college mates.

Plus, upon seeing how sloppy her shenanigans were when getting intimate contact with men was, made a ghost of a stigma creep down his chest, making something snap inside him. Those impossibly forest green orbs, festooned with myriad of conjured emotions that he couldn't decipher, but he felt like they were slowly getting to him, were boring into his very soul, even though Sakura was doing it unconditionally.

Those _eyes_ …how could someone have aureate irises embed into a labyrinth of sempiternal green like hers? They were crystal glassy mirrors to the tunnel of her spirit and he could flip through all the paths to her deepest abysses of her consciousness and heart and scan over the content.

Was that _disappointment_ he read into her suddenly bowed down eyes? He should dispose of Naruto`s empty skull, after beating the heck out of his foul language and outgoing careless blabbermouth, for even implying such an outrageous –and sadly enough, true- thing about him, while Sakura was present.

Or, he did it on _purpose_ to test the reactions he got from both the parties…Sasuke shot up an eyebrow at the dobe, daring him to state that again, but Naruto wisely kept his mouth shut, probably getting his answer.

He should be grateful for not taking a _punch_ square in the face instead for basically ruining his date with Sakura. A very pleasant date, mind telling you.

After Naruto ordered himself the biggest bowl or Ramen, his beaming cerulean orbs cast upon from the Menu, he returned to his mission, grinning at a rather anxious looking Sakura. She was probably afraid to not be cornered and have a slip of a tongue, but Naruto`s solar friendly demeanor was coaxing her into letting it loose for a bit, drop her guard and open up.

After all, Sasuke was still there and his imperial stoic presence, even if he was still as an alabaster Greek statue guarding the entrance of an imposing Temple of a powerful deity, so she should rest assured.

"Do you like Ramen?" He bluntly dropped to her and actually Sasuke saw how Sakura`s edgy viridian orbs turned into crystalline sparkling gemstones when she changed her pouting mood to a relaxed one, giggling at the obvious food obsession that the man before her had.

It was funny in a distorted unexplainable way that she couldn't explain, but definitely that Naruto Uzumaki was one of a kind. A peculiar nonchalant demeanor was gracing that particular vampire`s easygoing character and she quite understood why someone like Sasuke would fancy –and stand- his solar presence.

They _completed_ each other in the most refined way possible. What one of them lacked, the other came to link the net of their intricate personalities. "Ahm…I…don't think I have ever had any, so I cannot actually give you a honest answer, in lieu of being polite."

It was the painful truth though. It was not like she had money so spare on local fancy foods and taste out new assortments, but it was not like she didn't know how delicious it could have been if only for the smell she could pick into her high school`s cafeteria. But she didn't want to offend him with a lie, somehow, sensing that he could feel the wicked or evil intent in people in general.

The blonde threw his head backwards, tears shimmering at the corner of his squeezed shut orbs, not believing his eyes at what an unpolished jewel has Sasuke set his claws on. "Hahaha, don't ya worry Sakura-chan, here you can have one of the best Ramen in town, believe it!" True to his word, when the order came, Naruto hasn't missed the chance to appeal to Sakura to have a taste.

One bowl of noodles later, the name Ramen was on both their lips. Sasuke has been looking all the times like a hawk, how his best friend has managed to turn Sakura into a Ramen obsessed fangirl, just like him.

"This is absolutely delicious!"

"Isn't it? Man, I swear I could only eat Ramen all day and never get bored."

"You are, in fact, only eating that shit and never get enough of it, dobe." Sasuke injected, while unexplainably enough kept on staring at Sakura and the delighted look on her face, while she was sharing the fourth bowl of that horrendous to him food, looking so jovial in the presence of his best friend.

 _Something she was not while in his presence._ Sasuke couldn't help but pinpoint and that made him click on his tongue, feeling his boil blood with an unexpected rage. He wished he could tear Sakura out of Naruto`s bloody pissing too amiable presence and yank her out of that place, to bring her somewhere more…Naruto-free.

He wished to see the rosette that lighthearted and gleeful more often, but when in _his_ presence, so far, Sakura has only acted like a deer cornered by flashing car lights, or pensive, like ruminating the outside world and trying to understand the course of every second.

At least, that was how his intuitive mind put the two pieces of the puzzle together, when trying to come up with a reasonable explanation to Sakura`s always averting from him eyes, or on the contrary, deep looks into his eyes, being always emblazoned with a blush on her cheeks.

What he didn't know, was the fact that she was only acting like that because the _feelings_ were different and she probably reacted on instinct, not being aware of it herself. While Sakura had no problem when Naruto placed his hand out of reflex on her shoulder when they laughed at some joke about one of his friends that the blonde has said, feeling him being like an older brother that she never had, Sasuke`s touch on the other hand, elicited electrifying sensations that were making her body respond in ways that it has never before, to no one and that was why she was so edgy.

Cautious that the woman in her would betray the obvious attraction and offend him with a careless thirsty lascivious behavior. The way Sasuke was touching her, was definitely _not_ resembling Naruto`s in any ways. Oh, Hell no!

Because it was definitely _not_ Naruto the one her inner, in the spur of an euphoric state induced by the sexiness of the ebony haired Uchiha`s godly presence, was imagining pinning him against the wall behind, peeling those clothes completely out of his body and have him plunge inside her, in every way he could, be it her mouth, her mind, her heart, her soul, or some _other_ choice places that were making her hot, wet and squeeze her thighs together in anticipation.

"You`re such a Teme, you know? Anyways, Sakura-chan it would be great if you could meet the whole gang!" The blonde exploded in a fit of blabbering about their acquaintances, totally ignoring Sasuke. "I am sure you will love them, even though they can be quite idiots some time."

Sasuke silently added ' _you`re the one to talk'_ but decided to follow the interaction between the two, plotting on the best way to grab Sakura`s hand and sneak outside without Naruto following them hot on their heels.

Yes, the dobe had it in him to be the major creep he was and tail behind them, like he used to do just to piss him off further, or replenish his stock of blackmail he had on his onyx eyed friend.

"I would…love to." Sakura honestly confessed, finding it really easy to relate to the man beside her. Naruto was a never-ending pool of radiating warmth, brotherly energy and amicable kindness.

"Hn. You will have the chance to do that earlier than this dobe could think of."

"Why would you say that, Bastard?"

"She will be attending the courses starting by Monday." That statement took both Hinata and Naruto by surprise and their widened orbs did nothing to hide their puzzlement.

 _Okayyyy…_ They truly _didn't_ see that coming. For Sakura to actually go to the same College as they did, it was something new and intriguing, which only made some more questions arouse. So, did Sakura and Sasuke knew each other from the classes they had together? Did they meet into the library? Made out in the chemistry lab? Had a group project together? Went to the same conferences on weird-ass subjects that half of the students couldn't begin to comprehend?

"…cool!" The blonde Uzumaki managed to blurt out, while Hinata remained silent and taking in that new piece of information. Definitely, Sakura was someone really interesting. Not only that, but she was genuinely a sweet heart up to the last bone.

And Hinata suddenly understood Sasuke`s point of view and choice of such a woman to be in his presence. She was so different from the _other_ one.

"W-What a-are you studying?" Hinata squeaked like a nightingale for the first time addressing the rose haired young girl, curious of what her points of interest were. To her, Sakura had an airy genuinely jovial personality who could easily place her among the circle of nonchalant and avant garde artists –painters, musicians, dancers, ballerinas.

"I have always loved medicine. Being a doctor was my all times… _dream_." It was impossible for the cute mismatched couple to miss the skipping of a beat in Sakura`s tone when she spelled her last word and her voice has suddenly seemed coated in a bitter mixture of resentment and anxiousness, like she wouldn't believe it was her own mouth uttering something like that.

Which was weird. It sounded like half of the sentence was masking a very dark spot in her life. But neither Hinata nor Naruto made their incredulity known, not wanting to offend the rosette. Sasuke kept on being his silent composed self, but his senses were lime wire.

"Wow, that one major is a real pain in the ass! Only those insanely smart kids go there, so you must be really brainy! And you are going to be colleague with Shikamaru, who is a lazy bum by default, but definitely nature has been generous with him." The blonde added with a goofy grin that Sakura started to associate to someone who could easily become a friend in the future.

She blushed a cute light shade of coral pink at the induced compliment and laughed sheepishly at him, fluttering her hands in front of her, comically and shaking her head. "Hehe, I don't think I am that great, but I will try to do my best."

Then her amiable light tone changed for a more serious and laid back one, while brushing a fallen lock of strawberry hair off her cheek, briefly locking gazes with Sasuke, staring deeply into his onyx orbs while she stated: "It is my own way to repay _someone_ who has done me a huge favor and show my unyielding gratitude." The Uchiha cracked a phantom of a smirk which didn't go unnoticed by none of the three occupants of the table.

 _This is getting interesting,_ was the thing that surged through both Naruto and Hinata`s minds and a brief peek at one another and an invisible nod assured the couple that they were on the same page. _So there was indeed something more_ _meaningful_ _and_ _insightful_ _that connected the two of them._

"W-What a b-beautiful way t-to keep a p-promise." The aristocratic definition of beauty and grace from the Hyuga family added with a shy beam of her own, wisely getting close enough to the bond that linked Sasuke and Sakura –for the moment.

"Actually…I am also doing it for _myself_. I know it sounds selfish, but if there is a chance for me to be good at something…have a way to be of _use_ to the others and prove myself, and not being just another _nuisance,_ then I am willing to stretch my hand and grab it."

"…nice. You are a kind person, Sakura-chan."

A moment of an awkward silence has followed after Sakura`s deep unexpected confession during which Naruto and Hinata couldn't help but marvel at how incredibly reminiscent her way of thinking was to Sasuke`s. The future leader of the vampires too wanted to get out of his family`s clutch and change the way they thought and lived from the beginning of their history and lead them to a rightful path.

In a similar way, Sakura wanted to be of help for the society and cure people, alleviating their suffering. In fact, by an ironic and almost funny twist of events, fate has brought them conveniently together. One would work on the psychological impact, while the other would tend their physical injuries.

But there was something else that both Naruto and Hinata wanted to confirm, thus they didn't know how to politely ask it, plus they couldn't risk to blown away their…cover. That being said, the Uzumaki decided it was time to confront Sasuke about who Sakura was without putting her into an uncomfortable position.

"You won't mind if I kidnap this one brooding _Teme_ here for a second, would you?"

Onyx orbs narrowed at the blonde, glaring at his profile while Sakura shook her head, because she couldn't deny the two friends a particular conversation, though she guessed she would be their main topic. But at least, the Uzumaki vampire was polite enough to not start on asking more personal questions in front of her, which was good.

Sasuke was making her uncomfortable enough. "N-No, of course not. Why would I mind?" She assured in what she hoped it was a convincible sweet and unflappable tone, yet she was boiling on the inside.

Sasuke rose from his seat to follow Naruto`s retracting shadow downstairs, while their gazes locked for a moment and the raven haired Uchiha sent her a silent signal of assurance, clearly understanding that she had nothing to be worried about, because he had anything under his _control_. "I will be back." His velvet voice dragged a mantle of security upon her shoulders. Her jadeite eyes pursued his back until she couldn't see neither Naruto nor Sasuke anymore.

Then she freed a breath she didn't realize she was holding, getting more comfortable in her seat, totally forgetting that there was another person watching her between long lashes and porcelain irises. "Y-You two s-seem very c-close."

She flinched. Sakura totally didn't expect the lavender eyed girl to make such a statement, addressing her for the first time. She cracked a ghost of a smile, a honest one, finding Hinata`s shyness to be extremely cute, but then she realized how well it suited her. "We have just…met. But I own him a lot."

"I-I am sorry f-for only introducing m-myself no. Hyuga Hinata." Said girl span her delicate hand towards the rosette, who mimicked her gesture.

"Haruno Sakura, it is a pleasure. Sasuke told me about you and Naruto. You guys are very good friends of his. I knew from the very first time I saw you who you guys were, but I didn't mean to be rude."

"S-So you are also…one of _us_?" Sakura surely didn't miss the beat on Hinata`s coloratura tone which strolled out of her lips, nor the hesitance in weary asking her of her mortal or immortal condition, which gave the rosette a taste of how reticent people were to open up to unconventional and suddenly she felt sorry for the vampires, for having to conceal their stigma as they weren't normal kids of the universe.

"Actually, no. I am human." Emerald orbs followed the horror creeping into Hinata`s pastel lilac ones, but she was quick in assuring the woman before her that her secret was safe. "Don't worry. Sasuke told me about…many things. I won`t tell."

"H-He told you about…v-vampires? R-Really?" Hinata leaned forward to whisper to the rosette and Sakura couldn't comprehend why was she so secretive since there was empty on the first floor, save for two couples who were lost in their own bubble of cheesiness, way too far from their table to peep into their private conversation.

But then she realized that the lavender eyed Hyuga wanted to protect her as well, because humans were not actually supposed to find out about vampires. "Yeah. He briefed me about how you guys are fighting to create a better world for humans and vampires to live together in harmony, without you having to hide your true identities. I know there are many vampires coexisting with us, the mortals, but I wouldn't make out who was what if Sasuke wouldn't have told me that it is impossible to tell them apart, if not for your unbelievable beauty. Now I know what he meant."

Hinata`s wriggling orbs turned shy and she blushed at the obvious compliment, brushing a fallen lock around her pearl shimmering embellished small ear, stuttering. "T-Thank y-you. Though I must confess that I w-wouldn't h-have noticed that y-you were not…v-vampire. Your hair and e-eyes…beautiful."

"Thank you."

What Hinata hasn't voiced out, though it has rammed into her skull, was the fact that she has seen the way Sasuke`s onyx orbs were constantly seeking for the avant garde exotic look of the mesmerizing unique rose haired woman and she understood that he too found her fascinating.

And the luxurious vampire heiress was glad for her old brooding ebony haired Uchiha childhood friend, inwardly cheering at a possible small miracle that Sakura might melt his petrified heart back into a pool of overflowing powerful feelings, like an Uchiha was capable of.

Ever since his former fiancé has broken his heart, thorn the dreams of the future they had together and left the Uchiha transcend through the centuries of eternity alone, broken, more laid back and introvert and swallowed by misery. But instead of having one Uchiha heir sulking and drowning in grief, he became a steel heart.

His heart turned into an impenetrable fortress which no one could even get close to it, let alone conquer it and Hinata has long realized that the one able to overthrow the dragons guarding it was not raw strength, but pure imperishable _love_. While one`s mind was prisoner of darkness and demons, that person would never cross through the Gates of Retribution. Only innocence and love.

And those were traits that Hinata could easily decipher inside the emerald eyed woman`s heart. Maybe…just maybe she would be the stretch hand that Sasuke would grab and pull him back in the world of colors.

A world he estranged from, a long time ago. "S-So…I am sorry if it is something p-private b-but...w-what did you mean that Sasuke h-has given you a c-chance? I mean…y-you have made it sound like you were…o-on a road with n-no ending." Hinata knew what she was asking Sakura.

Sasuke was hardly someone who did people favors, simply because his ego won`t allow him to own them something back. So what reason could he have had to take that young woman, with the most exotic look and the most vibrant green jadeite orbs in the world, under his protective raven wing?

It made no sense at all. Unless…there was a far more profound connection between them, one that they were conveniently keeping concealed from the peeping eyes. "Your assumption is correct. I know what you all must be thinking about, but I am _not_ after his money. Yes, the temptation is irresistible and I see what a great man he is but…I am not here to merely satisfy certain _needs._ I am sure you know what I mean."

Her answer both stunned and amazed Hinata. Yes, Sakura was correct in taking a logical guess in the reason why she was clinging to Sasuke`s side, lurking after his shadow, but what the lilac violet eyed Hyuga heiress truly wanted to confirm was the rosette`s willingness to share the burden heaving on the Uchiha`s shoulder.

In fact, she wasn't staying glued to him, but rather yearned for comfort and protection. Like she was afraid of something or someone and she has found solace in the vampire prince`s petrified stoned embrace, which was funny, pitiful and intriguing at the same time. Didn't she know that Sasuke has long entombed any emotions in the casket of his chest and refused to open up to any sort of contact –be it human or not- with anyone, in terms of intimacy?

Surely she couldn't be that stupid and from what Hinata made out rom Sakura`s bright sharp answers and general unpolished clumsy manners, she was a modest girl, raised under the oath of traditions and moral values, being respectful, quiet, yet bright, friendly, carefree and wise. So the other safe thing to assume was that somehow, she coaxed Sasuke into revealing fragments of his former self to her and her only.

"O-Of course, p-please don't take m-my question as offensive. I-I can see that you are n-not superficial and n-nor after his assets. And t-this is what makes m-me curious. T-This isn't like h-he normally is with the rest of…with anyone else."

To arouse Hinata`s curiosity even further, Sakura actually let out a bell like giggle, like that implication about Sasuke`s laid back introvert character deeply amused her, but she spotted no traces of irony and false modesty into that nightingale soft tune of hers. "Haha, yes, you are right, he likes to brood and frown a lot, doesn't he? I love it especially when he sends those glares to certain people that I assume annoy him."

"Y-You _like_ it when he _g-glares_?" Ok, the fact that Sakura truly had a distinctive looks, with her aquamarine-forest green-golden orbs and the bright hair in the color of the dragon fruit, was something obvious to anyone with a functional set of eyes, but the fact that she was also strange in personality, was something she was yet to discover.

Because, seriously, especially someone as shy and easily scared Hyuga Hinata, would knew that getting one of the Uchiha`s infamous glares, was anything but portraying positive entertaining emotions. The energy their immensurable inner strength conjured was sparkling into those bottomless ink abysses, making the target of it rot and perish from the surface of the ground, not standing the way they basically swallowed the essence of anyone`s spirit, from their very souls, boring into the most confined depths of conscience and mind.

"I do, and you know why? Because I feel like that is one moment when he reveals what he _truly_ thinks and you can peek into his mind, even for a second, and discover that _inner_ Sasuke that I think he has hidden." Even if Sakura has barely met the handsome Uchiha, he could clearly depict that particular dominant characteristic of his demeanor.

Sasuke was hardly someone easygoing and vocal about how the felt, and words were precious rare pearls coming from his mouth, barely speaking more than few, which was too bad because not only was that raven haired Uchiha was smart as hell and had solid logical principles and hazardous interesting ideals, but his cashmere silk voice that pampered her eardrums and made her skin tingle in pleasure and delight.

Of course, being an inquisitive person by nature and a young woman nonetheless, his idiosyncratic tranquil and philosophical being was an obvious attraction. So she tried to peel the numerous layers of arctic frozen façade and discover his essences. She was dying to see how Sasuke truly was and Sakura would take a wild guess that beneath the surface of the unruffled graceful gentlemen, sheltered a passionate untamed man, who was able to lift her up to the swell of euphoria with one single touch. She wasn't able to see it, but she felt it whenever he felt her or caress her.

That thought alone was driving her crazy and made the temperature of her body rise like the blazing sun in July.

Hinata wanted to embrace the woman before her and sworn her undying friendship to that rose haired woman, for the words that came out of her heart. She could see the rosette was honest, because all the colors of her kind intuitive heart were sparkling like million rainbows inside her shimmering vivid emerald orbs.

Being a high class lady, who refrained from displaying an improper behavior in such a place, the Hyuga beamed a honest smile to mirror Sakura`s dreamy one. "I-I don't know how y-you do it, but you s-seem to understand S-Sasuke-kun p-pretty well. I-I think that h-he is lucky to have met you." Something about the woman before her was making Hinata relax and automatically drop her guard, simply because Sakura oozed of a clumsy pureness and candidness, that it was impossible to think of her as nurturing evil hidden ambitions.

After some more girl talk, Hinata was sure that they could become really good friend. There was a tiny voice at the back of her mind which shouted at the lavender haired Hyuga that Sakura was not just another trivia line on Sasuke`s journal. She was someone with a high potential of standing by his side for a longer time than the others did.

So that was why she decided to let aside her awareness and mistrust in people`s shallow ambitions and obvious succumb in the lust of lecherous desires and get to know Sakura better. The poor emerald eyed girl was looking uncomfortable and anxious enough with the entire ordeal, clearly not being accustomed to be invited to dinner and definitely not in such places.

Plus, the way she was absentmindedly patting the contour of her stunning necklace, fingering the sparkling crystal pendant, was cheesy and cliché, but not in the vulgar and boring way. Inwardly, it probably made her think about Sasuke and that was bringing her a sense of confidence.

"So…" The Hyuga began, as she felt comfortable enough to serve another bit of her delicious food, silently inviting Sakura to do the same, but the rose haired woman reached for the Champagne instead. It was Sasuke`s favorite, Hinata knew and inwardly squealed. "…w-would you t-tell me something about you? H-Hobbies, friends, f-favorite subjects?"

The gallant Hyuga heiress smartly and politely stood away of any family affairs and her background, sensing that there was a huge stain tainting her family name, which Sakura would rather not talk about, so she just went with the safest options. But she was genuinely curious to see whether they had some things in common or not. Or how many point of her interest were resembling to Sasuke`s, because that would help her determine the level of a potential link between them, that transcended physical and went deeper, into lyrical, poetical and spiritual.

"Well, there is basically no one important enough in my life for me to call as friends, but I am hungry for literature, especially history and mythology. Also, as I have said before, human anatomy fascinates me. The human body is so complex that it never ceases to amaze me of how many mysteries yet to be unraveled it has. And please do not say this to anyone but…I like to sing. You can say that it makes me vent out in a more elegant way."

"R-Really? I would l-like to h-hear you once, if that i-is all right with you. I can s-say that you have a pleasant voice. I also love mythology, especially Roman mythology or stories about the ancient Egypt. A-And I often r-read about f-famous l-love stories i-in history and literature."

"You too? I would totally admit it to you that I cry whenever I read Romeo and Juliette. It is just that Shakespearean language that is so poetical and fabulous, that makes sensuality be lyrical and ethereal and it melts my heart. Also, there is Cleopatra and Mark Antony`s heartbreaking tumultuous love story, which is sublime and has that exotic fascination of two opposing worlds and mentalities clashing together in an exploding fusion of emotions, makes me get chills whenever I read about it. I can ramble about it for hours, though I must warn you that I do talk a lot." Sakura actually found it easier to be more like her nonchalant and radiating self around people like that Hyuga Hinata and the lady wasn't failing Sasuke`s brief introduction about his entourage.

That apparently cautious, self-conscious, and timid lilac woman, with the eyes shimmering like margarite, had an aura that inspired unflappable commitment, devotion, warmth and friendship, and she was someone that one could rely on and be sure that she was decent, straightforward, ingenuous and virtuous. The embodiment of eternal loyalty and attachment sparkled brightly into that young stunning shy woman and Sakura found herself experience the feeling of confessing and chattering to a friend.

She never had a confident or someone to share secrets between girls back then in high school, elementary or kindergarten. People, girls especially, mocked her for her background and the looks that sometimes attracted guys` looks. Jealousy was rotting their hearts, but Hinata was tremendously different. She displayed genuinely interest in knowing the rosette better and Sakura didn't mind it in the bit.

She had the chance to find out more about vampires, a world alien to her that was yet to be discovered and maybe fantasize about becoming acquainted with them. "I-I also l-love those stories you have mentioned. T-They are among m-my favorite. I-I have some originals i-in my library. Are you versed in o-other languages?"

"I could hardly brag about my skills in foreign language, but I can speak a little Spanish, French and German. I suppose this is something that comes to you naturally, right?"

"A-Actually, I am o-only fluent i-in Italian, Spanish and French. I-Is it true that y-you are attending o-our college?"

"Well…if you are to believe what Sasuke has said, then I guess so. He told me that I will start by tomorrow, though I find it funny but not impossible, knowing him. My guesses are that he somehow knows the Principal and can talk to him for me to find a major that will fit the profile of the high school I have finished and my points of interest. I used to dream about becoming a doctor, so I can cure anyone of any disease and stop people`s suffering…Kids especially."

" _U-Used_ to be? What a-about now?"

"…now I just want to…I just want to be happy. I want to know what that is. It is the only think that life can give to me, since it has taken everything from me and gave me nothing but pain. I know it sounds lame and overdramatic, but it means a lot to me. I used to think that this is a happy place, even if I had nothing, but my foolish perennial optimism, but I stopped the moment I got only bitterness in return of my smiles. I think I let them put me down."

She understood. Hinata swore she comprehended every single line that came out of Sakura`s suddenly melancholic nightingale sad voice and damn right she wished to pick the girl into her arms and embrace her, but she didn't want to invade her privacy and look like a lunatic. But she did give her one of her cherub like smiles, which she returned. "N-No, please d-do not say such things, Sakura-san. I t-think you are a wise person and a very s-strong woman."

"Thank you, but…I am not steadfast and unflinching as you think. If I was, then I wouldn't have tried to… _take my own life_ run from it, like a coward." Slowly, but surely, as Sakura came to find out that there indeed hearts of gold living, laughing and sharing their beams and honesty with the others, yet if she wouldn't have met Sasuke, she would have died a pitiful way, all oblivious.

Sakura couldn't help but inwardly laugh bitterly at the fine irony of the destiny`s genius: if Sasuke wouldn't have taken a detour back home –like he himself confessed to her- and if he would have been one **heartbeat later** , they would have been strangers and she would have been just an unimportant memory embellished in the eternity`s brocade, with no one to ever know of her story.

But there she was, getting a new chance to rewind and fill that emptiness in her heart, in the embrace of the king of darkness. That handsome vampire Prince and his mesmerizing onyx-bleeding velvet crimson eyes. How ironic. She couldn't help but wonder about how many times had their shoulders brushed as they walked past each other, without knowing.

 _Nah, she would have noticed someone who looked like_ _that._ She actually find it in her to giggle, while Hinata rose an eyebrow at her, wondering about what could go through that woman`s clever inquisitive mind. Sasuke was definitely someone who turned heads and make eyes pop out of their sockets. She would have never missed him. It was just the fact that they lived in  different worlds.

Which just happened to _collide._ Destiny was such a funny unpredictable thing.

"R-Run from _it_?" Actually Hinata kind of had a click that the rosette was a runaway and she was coming from a family with a gazillion of problems, but she didn't go to a territory that was probably dangerous like a minefield, where she would cause a war inside Sakura`s heart. She didn't want to be offensive, so she kept the inklings to herself, but she couldn't help her mouth to shut up and keep it at bay.

"Home, I mean, but I suppose you already figured me out. You seem like a brilliant person. Sasuke conveniently covered for me, but I feel like you are someone who I can tell it, because I know you won't judge." It was the truth. Hinata just oozed that aura of a longing all time friendship, that Sakura has always fantasized about, but never found it, simply because no one would approach her to befriend her. Plus, even if she was starting to have the feeling of guilt and shame panging inside her heart and mind for her cowardliness, Sakura realized that she didn't want to come as a dark horse, since Sasuke`s friends were all so warm and friendly with her. It wouldn't be fair.

It didn't went unnoticed by Hinata who started to nurture some feelings of sympathy and liking towards the emerald eyed woman, who couldn't have been older than her mortal age, deciding that it was safe to give her a chance.

Despite her having Sasuke`s approval, whose judgment topped the charts, Hinata had her own fair share of wisdom and sparkling intuition and it were all screaming at her to break down her barrier and let the girl inside her castle. She had the soul of a princess entrapped in the body of a pauper, but her inner light was glowing into her exotic beauty and those incredible uncommon emerald eyes. "I will not."

Sakura noticed that for the first time that day, Hinata hasn't stuttered and that only strengthened her trust in the woman she has just met and her resolve. "Sasuke and I didn't _just_ have a chance random meeting. He has…for the lack of better words, _saved_ my life."

"Oh?"

"I was not there to practice my drawing skills." Ok, when she was done telling her pathetic story, Sakura would totally laugh her ass out loud at the nonchalance of Sasuke`s totally ridiculous excuse and Naruto and his lavender eyed companion`s dropped down jaws. The way he said it… "I was there to commit _suicide_." Of course, she lowered her voice and whispered to her, since there was still a possibility for the other pairs to eavesdrop.

Hinata`s pearl lavender orbs widened as saucers and she actually didn't see that coming. Not from Sakura. If anything, the rosette looked like someone who endured all the hardships of a hard life in poverty, but definitely not a woman to ever entertain such extreme ideas. "B-But why w-would you want to d-do something like that? Why giving u-up such a h-heavenly gift?"

The coral haired woman wasn't judging Hinata for her dogmas, because Sasuke was explicit enough in his explanation and theories about how precious life was in an immortal`s eyes. Basically, she came to realize that being a vampire was not exactly something one should strive to obtain. It came more as a curse and they were all longing for their past lives.

So that was why Hinata`s values were discrepant to her own, but it was not like she had any other options. "I understand that life is a gift that has been granted to me by God and my parents. But up until now, I couldn't find the meaning of it. What is my purpose in here? Why am I still living for if all I am doing is being abused and suffer? Why isn't it fair for all of us? Why am I unable to see the light of a better place at the end of the tunnel? I used to think about it every single minute of my life, but I wasn't able to come up with an answer."

She couldn't help it. Cold crystalline tears aligned with the rim of her long curly fine ebony eyelashes, even if Hinata was struggling to hold them back and not offend the women beside her, feeling that Sakura was already having a trial with her own conscience, struggling with forgiving herself for all the things that she couldn't be. But it was useless from the moment her green sparkling garnet orbs peeped into her own violet ones. Who knew how many people have shown her sympathy before? Or pity? "I-I am s-sorry. P-Please do not take i-it as offensive. I-I am sensitive t-to such topics. It h-has always been a weakness."

Actually Sakura did the most surprising thing and she smiled to her. "I know, Sasuke told me about vampires keeping a dominant trait from their past mortal lives, which I find it incredible and actually…emotional. Once an angel, always an angel. And he also taught me something that I still try to carve it into my mind because I feel like he is right. Never feel like my _mortal_ side is a _weakness_." She rolled a coral lock of her bang around her ear dreamy, biting her lower lip.

Oh, those feelings ingrained inside her twinkling jade orbs when she talked or thought about the Uchiha vampire with the eyes like charcoal and the grace of a king, were making Hinata inwardly squeal. For as long as she has known Sasuke –few decades- since they were little kids, running with their little bare feet into the vast poppy and roses gardens of the Hyuga or Uchiha households, playing in the wind like kids, without a care in the world, she wished for her friend to be happy.

Back then, when little Sasuke used to smile and laugh along with them, he couldn't be any cutter. And the more he came to be kissed by the hints of manhood, the more breathtaking and fine looking he became. And now that he has ended up thorn, heartbroken, grinded and tormented by both his family affairs and crumbled romance, he has never shown any fragment from what Sakura used to refer to as dominant trait of character.

So Hinata, along with his mother Mikoto and his friends, wished to see once again the swell of romance spring free from the figment of his entombed romance deep seeded in his mind for the rest of infinity, so maybe that his meeting with Sakura was, as Neji would fancy putting it, as the work of **destiny.**

Maybe Heavens took mercy on Sasuke and pushed Sakura right into his arms, without any of them noticing it. Sure, the rose haired woman hardly strike as one brainless fangirl to only drool and roll at his feet, like a lap dog, only daydreaming at his body and money. But her feelings could pierce deeper within the multitude of layers and barriers he had built over the decades, from the concrete of his disappointment and bleeding heart, and reach for the seed of his heart, to pamper and nourish it.

Yes, if someone was to ask Hinata for a first impression, she could state without stuttering that Sakura was truly someone that Sasuke could grow to love passionately. Maybe someone even better and more ardent than the previous one. The shade of her hair was _lighter_. So maybe her feelings were also purer. They had to be. She had a thing for him, the lavender haired Hyuga heiress could see it and even smell it, it was written all over her face and the way she was looking at Sasuke, longingly, deeply and almost lyrically, was telling a story of its own and it was something beautiful.

"F-Feelings are the most p-powerful weapons and t-the most versatile." What she was telling a totally interested Sakura, was coming from her own heart and experience, so to make sure they had already established a bond between women that went way past the stage of meeting and greeting each other, Hinata tapped Sakura`s knuckles with the palm of her hand, smiling at her. "They can e-either cut d-deep or c-cure the wounds. It depends o-on the owner."

She had a feeling that Sakura has totally understand what she was trying to convey to her, which she did. Sakura nodded once at her actually not finding it hard to flap her hand and their palms touch, holding her hand. It was warm and had a pleasant sisterly touch.

She had no idea how was it to have a sister but something inside her let the rosette know that the feeling was reminiscent to what she was feeling. "I know. And I also know what you mean by that. I can tell that what you think is totally justifiable but you know what? Sasuke has given me a chance and has made a wild promise that, now that I take my time and let it sink in, seems almost impossible, but I know he is serious and unfaltering. I will not toy with him, even if there is hardly _anything_ going on between the two of us."

Which lead Hinata to another question blooming inside her sharp mind. "I-If you don't m-mind me asking…w-why h-has he made you such a p-promise?" It did take the beautiful female vampire by surprise to learn that _the_ future king of Vampires swore to a woman to make her happy and knowing Sasuke –which she did- it might have been a return of a favor. So what was the thing that sealed their… _contract_?

Should she let her know? Sakura wasn't sure if Sasuke would be fine if his friends would learn about their secret. Heck, she didn't know if she was prepared to tell Hinata, who seemed to have some sort of odd expectations from her, that she was allowing Sasuke to have her blood. It was almost…crushing everything innocent and beautiful between the image they were trying to portray in front of the others.

What she didn't know, because she was a virgin in terms of acknowledge about vampires` ontology, was the fact that, for a noble vampire who wasn't one brainless zombie in search for sinking his claws in a human`s neck and drink like a beast, never making it to Homo sapiens sapiens, and had some control over his urges, to have someone to willingly share blood, was something incredibly _intimate_ and erotic.

Especially if that vampire happened to be royalty. They were the **real deal**. Self-control, respect, grace, finesse, manners and eloquence were values seeded in their heads even before they were born, running through their blue blood for generations. Hinata was one of them and her relationship with Naruto was a mutual agreement, based on love and care. So was Sasuke.

But Sakura decided to play it safe and keep it for herself. At least for the moment. A white lie would only seal the trust between Sasuke and her. "I am merely someone he finds intriguing and pleasant to carry on a conversation with. And before you ask, no, I am _no_ whore. I…we are not…sleeping together."

It never crossed Hinata`s mind that Sakura was just someone that Sasuke was sharing his bed with, simply because he wasn't sleeping with women in his own apartment. Hell, Ino, Tenten and she were the only women, beside his relatives, to enter his home. If he had…needs, he would have rather go to a hotel, or a spare room, if he happened to be at some party that Naruto dragged his brooding ass to.

But never his _house_. Never. So that Sakura didn't have any idea of how privileged she was to share the same space with Sasuke. Plus, she didn't have the traits of a concubine. And Hinata was ready to bet that Sakura was a virgin. It was just too obvious; her purity was glowing around her maiden features. Probably, Sasuke found that appealing too.

"D-Do not worry, such t-thing has never crossed m-my mind. I w-was just curious, since Sasuke-kun d-doesn't o-open up t-to strangers so much. N-Not anymore, at least." There was a flicker of regret twinkling inside Hinata`s lavender eyes as she grew melancholic, and Sakura noticed it.

But she found it hard to believe, since Sasuke has basically welcomed her into his life, even if he didn't know a thing about her and even went as far as to tell her the secrets of the world of vampires, having total trust in her.

Sure, she has seen it with her own eyes that the Uchiha vampire was not the most extrovert talkative person on earth, but it didn't strike to her that his tranquil silent composed attitude could be interpreted as coldness. At least, not in her presence and when they went outside, she only thought that his aloof stuck up cold attitude was just a façade he wore in order to keep unwanted people at bay and elegantly –and seductively- tell them to back the fuck of and mind their own stuff.

Maybe he only find it easier to be so talkative to her because she was inferior in all the ways possible, so she naturally didn't represent any potential threat to him, but she wasn't a knucklehead or a stuck up shallow bitch, so he found it in her an amusing good companion. Yes, she was aware that her unsophisticated clumsy manners were a valuable source of entertainment for him, but she won`t deny the steamy moments between them.

If Sakura was to be completely honest to herself –which she usually was- she would let Sasuke drink from her blood daily and even beg for it, if he would always evoke those sensations deep inside her and send her body to the moon and back, in ecstasy.

 _Just for his touch, I will…_

"I wouldn't have been upset with you even if you did, because that would be understandable. Someone like him…with someone like me…" It did sounded weird and still surreal, but facts were that she was _not_ dead, was wearing a daring and breathtakingly beautiful soft dress, that probably cost more than three lives of hers, in a place she only saw in movies and magazines and in the company of a high class irresistible gorgeous man, who gave her a gift that was weighing a feather around her neck and stole her breath away with its refined beauty. "Nah…he would never look at someone so mediocre in _that_ way."

And it was Hinata`s turn to laugh, but the blush embroidered on her neck and fine cheeks emphasized her inborn shyness towards such intimate conversation, even if she was talking to another female like her. But she couldn't help herself. Sakura was completely oblivious and in denial of her hypnotizing suave beauty and value. "A-Actually, I-I think you should h-have more trust i-in you. I t-think you are a-an amazing courageous p-person, Sakura-san. A-And I a-am positive that S-Sasuke-kun can see it too."

 _If his eyesight –or sight in general- was not astonishingly precise, than whose was?_

For some alien to her reason, Sakura`s heart wobbled at the implication of Hinata`s words. Has she fallen so low down the road of self-pity so bad that she was seeking for Sasuke`s acceptance so bad, or was there any other reason that she was unaware of?

"You will make me blush."

"I-I would l-like to hear m-more about y-you and your hobbies. M-Maybe go s-shopping someday." She couldn't believe that she has said that, but Hinata was sure that shopping with Sakura would be a better and less stressful, tiring and painful experience than shopping with Ino, the crazy shopaholic manic. Believe it or not, the Hyuga girl was almost always using chakra to resist the challenge of raiding for the best pair of heels with her blonde friend. "I-I will like you t-to meet the other girls. I am s-sure they are going to l-like you too."

"You think?"

The rest of the conversation between the two women flow, as well as the appetizing fancy mouthwatering dessert cake that Hinata has ordered for both, taking advantage of the absence –maybe too long- of the two men to freely indulge into a guilty pleasure and she found out that sweet tooth was another thing she had in common with the rosette.

* * *

 **::** **lead** me to your **fire,**

 **Breath** into _me_ **desire,**

As my **fingers** write **ancient** _rhymes_ on the **ghost** _of your_ **skin,**

I **lost** the **battle** with the **sea storm** inside **my head,**

To the **flames** into **your** **eyes** **::**

* * *

As soon as they were far enough for the girls upstairs to peep into their soon to be fierce and heated conversation, in the secure den of the men`s bathroom, Naruto wasted no second to spin on his heels at top speed and unleash the bubbling fury he kept concealed from Sakura and Hinata to explode, throwing his raven haired friend on one of the magenta painted walls, while his shimmy fists latched to his white collar, pure fury blazing into his sizzling cantaloupe frog eyes, as they were pinning down Sasuke`s onyx ones.

The Uchiha merely rose a taunting eyebrow at the blonde, like silently daring him to punch him square in the jaw and make him kiss the floor, as he knew that Naruto wished to do, but he was well aware of where he was and _who_ was he would be challenging.

Nonetheless, the words spewed from his mouths held the venom of the most poisonous snake when he snarled at his totally calm and smug, almost amused friend. "Care to explain it to me what the fuck is going on into that mind of yours, Teme?"

He kept on addressing him with the usual appellative, which meant that Naruto was still not pissed off enough to entertain Sasuke further, but that would suffice for the moment. "Why the heck would I lose my time with explaining anything to an idiot like you?" He threw right back into his face, not pulling any muscle, even if Naruto`s clench around the hem of his shirt tightened and his fisted purple knuckles were digging into his Adam apple, he remained unfazed.

Was Naruto so much of an idiot that he forgot how much a vampire could hold his breath, or was he just trying to come out as menacing and imposing? That was making Sasuke mentally laugh like a hyena. Of course he knew that Naruto would confront him the moment he would introduce Sakura to his group, but what he wasn't expecting was it to be so quick.

No worries, he just had to adjust his strategy and go on with the flow and let his instincts do the talking. As long as Sasuke didn't break any of their rules, whatever the Hell was he and Sakura doing was their OWN private business. Of course, Naruto, being his annoyingly stubborn self-proclaimed hero, he just felt the need to do the other justice and solve their non-existent problems. "Maybe because you coaxed a _human_ into kissing the ground you walk and even went as far as to drink from her _blood_ , you inconsiderate bastard!"

And that successfully whipped any trace of arrogance of Sasuke`s handsome face. His thin lips turned into a fine straight line, as his eyebrows turned into a deep dark frown, emphasizing the pitch sinister bottomless black of his eyes. He was amused no more. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

That kind of uncharacteristically denial only made Naruto grow more livid than he was, and Sasuke could see his unspoken insults run through his protruding veins of his temples and the side of his neck. How come he has missed the moron`s ability to sense the chakra and people`s auras, with that ridiculously op ability of his?

Oh yeah maybe because he has grown to be so subtle over the years and he knew how to hide the fact that he was using his _Sage Powers_ to detect the traces of Sasuke`s imprint into Sakura`s body. It must have been the moment they greeted each other and he made contact.

The moment Sasuke was busy looking at her smile and averted his eyes from Naruto _. Damn._

"Don't fuck with me Teme, I can see and smile your mark all over her, and you smell like her! How far did the two of you got?" Oh, so he also found out about him sharing his _saliva_ with the rosette, in that ghost of a _kiss_.

When he was done bitching at him, Sasuke should invite Naruto to spar and learn about the full extent of his ability, for as long as he remembered, the aquamarine eyed foxy Uzumaki didn't have such sharp insight and perception.

"Why do you care so much? It didn't bother you before."

"Yeah, because you only used to fool around with women, but, for fuck`s sake, Teme, she lives with you! You brought her to your own damn house! I don't remember you bringing anyone to live with you ever since you moved from home! This means serious shit, man!"

"Yeah, so what of it? There is a first for everything." That made blabbering cerulean eyed Uzumaki froze for a moment, pondering the words that came out of Sasuke`s unfazed lips. He tried to grasp the meaning of a _'first'_ according to Sasuke`s concealed evasive answer. A first as in…was he willing to stop frowning and sinking into misery alone and open up to new possibilities? Then his answer hit him like a slap in the face, and his blazing orange orbs got back to their usual azure color.

"Are you trying to use Sakura- _chan_ to forget-"

"-No." The Uchiha was quick to inject him promptly with another round of venom seeping from his hissing clattering teeth. Why was Naruto so adamant in relating everything he did with his ex-fiancé? That was ages ago. Yeah, sure, he was hurt and he kind of lost trust in people or vampires in general, but he wasn't obsessed. He stopped thinking of her ages ago, she was ancient history, a black spot in his untainted life, but it was over. He was passed her. But when it came to Sakura, who was different from everyone he had the pleasure to meet, Sasuke was confused as well.

"Don't fuck with me, bastard. I can smell your scent on her. You drank her blood, her BLOOD, damn it! Facts is, you have touched her! Are you trying to betray our dogma-"

Slowly, but surely, Naruto was getting on Sasuke`s nerves. The ebony haired frowning Uchiha grasped Naruto`s wrists and unclenched his fists from his fine shirt, raising his voice an octave. "It was consensual. She liked it when I-"

"Bullshit! You tricked her because you knew she won't refuse you. Heck she is more innocent than a bell flower. Even i can see she _likes_ you." It came as consternation for both of them, but when it came to people`s feelings, the Uzumaki had the upper hand, for Naruto has always been receptive to the others beside him, simply because his solar selfless personality and his own resolve to jump into the fire for the other without thinking about his own persona, gave him the chance to unravel the others` most intimate secrets and thoughts, relating with them, up to a certain degree.

Of course he didn't mean to be unfair with Sasuke. If anything, the Uchiha was twice as adamant as their brethren –some of them- to fight for creating a better world, where humans and vampires would live together in peace and friendly terms, and stop concealing in the shadows. So he knew that Sasuke would not sway from his ideals, just to have a slave in the form of an iconic maiden begging for his touch, while he drank from her blood, like a mindless animal.

Someone like Uchiha Sasuke would never allow himself to succumb into his primal needs, always being the one to strive to break his own limitations, the cursed condition and push himself beyond limits, be it strength, control, wisdom or grace.

But he couldn't help the words coming out of his mind, bursting like soap bubbles when he thought about Sakura`s jolly smile, but sad eyes. She wasn't a stupid woman, that much was obvious, but there was a nagging naivety, turbulence, resentment, hate and fright a like she was in the verge of abandoning the fight, and give up. On everything. And Naruto knew that those inner insecurities could easily be manipulated by someone as versatile as the Uchiha was.

He had to make sure. Those emerald orbs of hers were full of sadness and silently implored the entire world to give her a break and stop biting down her ass. Inwardly, Naruto was glad that Sakura remained alone with the lunar epitome of gentility and love, Hinata, because they could become friends and she could open up more to a woman, once the men were out of picture.

It was one of the reasons why Naruto has dragged Sasuke out of there, beside confronting his reasoning and get a plausible explanation for his odd uncharacteristically behavior.

"She doesn't like me. She just doesn't _care_ about her life." Sasuke knew that Hinata at least won`t buy his excuse for his and Sakura`s chance meeting, but probably Sakura has already told the kind Hyuga the truth. He trusted Hinata`s ability to make the others feel cozy and warm around her, probably the two of them revealing feelings of amity, while Naruto was annoying the fuck out of him.

But then again ,that stupid dumb foxy grinned Uzumaki was _more_ than his best friend. They nourished a bond that went beyond friendship and transcended the world of brotherhood. So he couldn't lie to him. From all the people, the honey kissed haired half vampire understood him and never sold him out. Never.

"You can't possibly be serious. Since when do you think so low about life in general?"

"I am not. She is the one who wants to _die_." Awakening has hit Naruto like a speeding train, making him go blind and see blinding lights when he grasped the meaning of the whole situation. He froze midday of a curse he chose to send to his raven haired friend when he realized that Sakura and Sasuke meeting each other hasn't been anywhere near romantic, poetic or fateful.

The bridge…her obvious anxiety and the scintillating sadness and fear of everything around, Sasuke`s choice to welcome her to live with him, the whole blood ordeal…everything fall into places. Sakura was not there to admire any shit, she was there to commit suicide! He couldn't believe Sasuke`s guts to take advantage of a person in such a state of mind, he must have been still under the influence of alcohol or whatever shit he smoked on the party.

"So instead of letting her do as she pleases, make her own choice, even if they were dumb and desperate, you chose to sugar coat your words so that she would fall into your net, like a fly, with no escape! Have you told her about the lifespan? Does she know she is going to die _faster_ if you drink her blood?"

Was Naruto stupid? Of course he didn't, because in Sasuke`s mind, that was something obvious. Human blood cells would regenerate, but that process didn't go to the infinite. It had to stop sometime and when her life force would start to weaken, so will her body start to rot. He thought it was somehow…logical. Only his treacherous heart seemed to disagree, since the furious organ started to pump faster, protesting at his mind for its choice of denying the truth.

He didn't tell her she would die, afraid of not to make her have a sway of mind and _leave_ him. Problem was, if he chose to listen to the voice of his heart –like he never did- Sasuke would be put face to face with confronting his feelings, and frankly, he didn't know why he was so fixed on that woman. Someone who he has just met. There was no answer and Sasuke loathed swimming into  uncertainty. It made him claustrophobic and anxious, since he wasn't the one in control of his own emotions. "It won`t make any difference. She doesn't care."

"Let her decide that."

"Why does it concern you?"

"Look at her! And here I though that you still had a freaking heart down your chest!" The classy scowling Uchiha would have told Naruto to lower the volume of his shriek since some random dude who wanted to go and take a leak, had a sudden change of mind when he caught the glimpse of two vigorous ridiculously tall and ripped guys having a heated argument inside, signalizing that someone may peek at their conversation or worse, embarrass both them and their family names for being thrown outside, because they engaged into a fight breaking the rules of the restaurant. But once he started his rant, no one would stop his teeth to clatter and his mouth to ramble.

"I can now see that it is one big boulder! I hoped she would have been someone to help you get out of that bubble." He pointed his quivering index in the air, like a teacher scolding his student, implying the presence of the pretty cute rose woman. Yes, Naruto knew that his words were gleaming sharp blades grinding dangerously close to Sasuke`s heart but he couldn't care less if the truth hurt him.

Point was, for some reason, Naruto felt the sudden itch to protect that girl, just as much as he had the feeling that she had something familiar, though he couldn't quite place it. Something about her aura, something about the bulb of chakra inbred inside her, awaiting to be discovered and set free, which she probably wasn't aware of, or maybe there was the unusual light in her unique hued eyes, he had no idea, but it made him restless.

Plus, just looking at her he could see that Sakura was a sweet docile innocent lamb, amidst a forest filled with hungry predatory wolves. That woman was defenseless and probably very troubled, since she wanted to kill herself. She didn't deserve someone as cold as Sasuke to crush the wings of the chrysalide in her heart, even before it turned into a butterfly.

Falling in love with Uchiha Sasuke? Biggest _mistake_ of her life. It wasn't in Naruto`s intention to bash on his friend, but he didn't want the girl to be hurt either. And she had all the chances to have her heart broken if she tried to cuddle with the idea of who he could be. But he was just as ice as an arctic storm. Beautiful unpredictable, swift and lethal, yet frozen.

"You are an idiot. I told you to mind your goddamn business."

"Is that a crime to want to see your best friend get out of his misery?"

"Who said I am in pain?"

"She is torturing you!" Naruto was basically screaming in his face. God dammit, was he fucking annoying. He just had to bring _her_ into the conversation, didn't he? "Do you think I am blind? If she doesn't care for her life then good for her but I won't allow you to play with her and take advantage of her pitiful state. I can see she is not a bad person."

Sasuke let out a prolonged heavy exhale, racking his fingers through his ebony messy rebel spikes, visibly forcing himself into holding back from snarling at Naruto. "We have a deal."

"What kind of deal?" He blonde didn't give him a second to catch his breath, before injecting, being rather demanding. Maybe a bit too demanding for Sasuke`s liking, considering the fact that whatever happened between Sakura and him was rather private.

"This doesn't concern you."

Naruto would have none. Not after he basically saw Sasuke curse his lineage to all the Seven pits of Hell and chose to stomp on their longtime dogmas and theories, deciding to follow a new path of his own, intertwining his ideals with Naruto`s, coaxing their friends into joining and supporting their cause, rapidly going international, since they were definitely not the only vampires who shared their view and wished to come into the light with pure thoughts and feelings of amity, sympathizing with the humans.

Humans like they all have been at some point. They were supposed to respect the mortals, and protect them from those greedy narrow minded vampires, who just wished to dominate both the vampire and human worlds and inflict dread, torture and fright, turning the world into a battlefield, which would ultimately end in a massacre. "Since protecting humans from vampires... is our job, then it kind of makes it my fucking business. Say it now or so help me God I will beat the crap out of-"

"She wants me to make her happy." Sasuke couldn't stand in listening to Naruto anymore. That dobe was making no sense, but those vivid onyx eyes which were boring into Naruto`s narrowed marine ones, were seeing too much of the blonde's disbelief and mistrust in his actions. Was Naruto so dumb to think that he was using Sakura in total discrepancy with their oath? After he basically spit on his father`s face and throw his image and reputation in the mud? Really? "in exchange of her blood."

Naruto`s mind had a shut down. HE couldn't believe that what he heard, was coming from Sasuke`s mouth. " What did you say?"

"Are you deaf?"

At that point, the foxy Uzumaki didn't know whether to burst out laughing like a madman, or unleash a chakra inflicted fist towards Sasuke`s jaw. The raven haired man`s words had his spine cringe. Happy? Happiness was an alien concept to Sasuke, anyone knew that. "She wants you to...what the flying fuck?! You cannot make her happy. Hell you cannot eve make yourself happy! You are taking advantage of her. You are using her while she gains noth-"

"Say it, damn it!" It was truly an art to get Sasuke lose his cool, drop the tulle veil of casualness down his face and make him snap, but Naruto definitely was someone skilled. The way Sasuke`s baritone voice rung through Naruto`s eardrums had him shudder. "Go look her into her eyes and tell me she is not smiling."

The necklace. There was an insanely expensive luxurious piece of jewel embellishing her neck, flashing extravaganza and _feeling_ right back at Naruto and he couldn't help but be puzzled by the reason why Sasuke would make such a wild impossible promise to someone, but that gift was the pure evidence of his serious intentions.

"Why? Why her? You didn't meet coincidentally did you?" Of course that Naruto has already figured it out, and Sasuke was seeing it into his going softer cerulean eyes that he understood, but still, the Uzumaki wanted to hear it from his mouth. He needed that assurance from his friend.

For a vampire _Prince_ to give a woman a set of jewelry, be it a necklace, earrings or a bracelet, whatever, was _huge_ and the implications waved from deep commitment to the supreme metaphor of feelings and solid promises. Heck, the last step till admitting those feelings of love and adulation, was to give her a _ring_!

Was Sasuke crazy, or getting Fugaku furious out of his mind was part of his renewed favorite hobby? Because that was surely to make the Uchiha leader of vampires livid and that was never a pleasant thing, for no one. Especially not for his youngest defying son.

"Of course not."

"I always considered you my brother, bastard. But ever since she...I cannot recognize you anymore. I cannot find my friend anymore." Leaving Sakura aside, Naruto has tried and tried his best to get Sasuke out of the realm of darkness that he himself has built within his heart and hide inside, not allowing any ray of light to come inside, without success.

He was always the one to come up with numerous opportunities to make Sasuke be a little more sociable with the others, dragging his ass to all the parties thrown off in their campus, by their friends, both vampires and humans, and even went as far as to introduce him to some girls, without success.

He was cold as ice and even if that, adding to his tremendously breathtaking gorgeous looks, was clearly a lady magnet, however, he would commit himself to no one. Instead of attempting to get to know them better, he was only using them as one night stands, which was something that made Naruto`s skull crack.

He was acting just like Kiba who was a shame to the males` gender and reputation. That was clearly a total player and a major manwhore, but at least he was doing it with style and flirted with the nonchalance, easiness and irresistible seduction of a real Don Juan, unlike Sasuke whose most appetizing best hook up line was all the variations of _'Hn'_ he could think of.

Which had Naruto facepalm. And Neji, who valued family commitment, honor and purity to the level of insanity.

"She wanted to commit suicide by jumping off the Great Naruko bridge. I saved her life."

"Well damn. Saved her life?" How was Sasuke saving her life, since he was the one to slowly taking it, with every drop of her blood he had. Unless he… "Teme, please do tell me that you don't plan on killing her, just to _turn_ her into a vampire, right?"

"Are you out of your damn mind Naruto?" Sasuke couldn't believe that his friend was even trying to imply such an outrageous thing. Was he high? If he was to be honest with himself, Sasuke only silently agreed to share some of his…body fluids –in any way she would allow- just to prologue her lifespan, because he didn't want her to die, but if the girl`s desires were such, who was he to go against her wishes?

If by any chance, he succeeded into making her get what she wanted, whatever her definition of happiness was, and she wished to live and be free from him, Sasuke would gladly **let her go**. He trusted her enough to know that Sakura would not sell him out and blabber about the secrets he entrusted her with, because she was a woman of her words. She would keep her promise.

"Are you, Sasuke? I wouldn't be surprised if you were. What would you do if Sakura-chan falls in _love_ with you? Or are you that blind to not see the way she _looks_ at you? I prefer to believe that you still live up to the reputation of your eyesight."

Oh, how Sasuke irked to show the blonde just how powerful his vision really was, but he remembered where he was and why was he there, so he chose to annoy the fuck out of Naruto by dropping his bodyweight on his left foot, cocking his head on the side, smirking arrogantly at him, while the veil effect of his raven bangs falling from his temple into his eyes, successfully hid his onyx piercing inky orbs. "Wouldn't you want to find out, idiot? Stop sounding like that Hyuga fucker or like Itachi, you look comical. Leave adults handle their own business and go chew on your candy."

"So help me God I will crush you if you play her, Teme, mark my words."

Something was starting to bother Sasuke really bad, though he was successful in concealing it from Naruto. Why was the blonde so adamant in protecting Sakura from whatever threat might have come from him? He couldn't have found out about _who_ she really was now, could he? Whether his brother hasn't informed him –which he most likely didn't- then it was impossible for Naruto to pick it up.

He had Hinata, so he was definitely not having a crush on her, so why all the unnecessary drama? Just because he brought himself a woman and offered her an opportunity and a better place to stay, than her previous home, it didn't mean that he wanted to turn her into a pathetic lewd slave. What was his problem then?

"Why the fuck do you care so much about what I do to her? I don't get you, Dobe. You don't give a damn about what I do and who I do, so why her? Just because I chose to treat her to dinner? Give her some gift? It`s her birthday today, so it was a common gesture that any gentleman would do, won`t you agree?"

There was so much irony in Sasuke`s words, that Naruto felt like sinking and chocking on it. "Because unlike the other times when you just used women just to fuck them or having fun, she is the best potential candidate to cure that poor heart of yours. She is the chance you need to redeem and seek atonement from the temple of love, Teme. Her, no one else."'

Naruto could have question his choice of words to take Sakura`s side, or taunt him about the necklace –did Sasuke just referred to it as _some_ gift- or the fact that he brought her on a _date_ , in his _favorite_ place to dinner, choosing his _usual_ table at the VIP section, offering her his _favorite_ Champagne to drink, treating her like she was his _betrothed_ , going as far as to promise her such a thing, just for him to have unlimited –debatable- supply of blood.

Naruto wasn't stupid nor was he oblivious. Sasuke was among the few vampires blessed with tremendously high levels of thirst tolerance, meaning he could go on for two or even three months, without touching a single drop of blood –human or animal- and still be able to walk straight and be a force to be reckoned with, in battle.

Frankly, he didn't actually _need_ the rosette`s human blood to live like a normal vampire, who hunted down for fresh _'meal'_. It was the fact that he was doing it because he _wanted_ it the thing that was making Naruto`s own blood bubble in rage. Since when has his friend started to sway from his self-proclaimed oath to not touch human blood and rely on blood pills, for as long as his body and mental sanity would endure it, and started to step back and indulge into his needs?

Was he secretly trying to betray them, crushing them from the inside out, by acting like a double agent, secretly teaming up with his father? Was he capable of such a thing? Azure inquisitive sharp eyes pierced into Sasuke`s bottomless ink ones. There was nothing inside, beside a steel wall that blocked his inner thoughts.

And the myriad of plausible answers and opportunities all led Naruto in one single direction, giving him that wild idea, namely, Sasuke truly had an _interest_ in Sakura. Maybe…just maybe he saw something in her that Naruto had too and decided to pursue that light and find out whether it lead to a rainbow or the rim of a waterfall.

What he didn't know, was the fact that Sasuke himself had no answer for his question. He didn't need Sakura`s blood, he won`t deny it, but…he was an addict for the taste and he was not necessarily talking about her blood, but to _her_ as a _woman._ Her impossibly forest green glowing aureate eyes were doing something to him…something he couldn't explain, but it made his chest feel warm and the space of his dim lighted house to glow.

"You won`t hurt her, right Teme?"

"No."

Naruto`s falsetto squeak has turned into a silent low tone and the familiar appellative he had for his long time raven haired friend wasn't filled with so much malice. Even he could see the sincerity beaming into Sasuke`s eyes. If the Uchiha promised to not make Sakura suffer, he could trust him on that one.

If anything, Uchihas were respected for their honor. They always kept their promises, be it good or bad. And Naruto also knew that, as twisted and sadistic as it might sound, Sakura was safe with him by her side.

And maybe, just maybe, her smile could reach places that his friends or family couldn't. She was an angel. She didn't have to crawl with the other snakes and swim against the stream to touch those memories and turn them into smiles, she just had to fly.

Having that in his mind, Naruto turned from sulking and snarling, into his usual hyperactive sugar rushed grinning boyish self, that annoyed the heck out of everyone, Sasuke including, throwing his arm around his deadpanning ebony haired friend`s broad stiff shoulders, hollering down his ears, almost making him go deaf. "Good! Well then…did you just say something about her birthday? We should totally throw a party! A _welcome_ one and introduce her to…"

At that point, Sasuke wasn't even listening. Since Naruto was done with the brotherly mature serious talk –shit- he was back to his loud gibberish, that totally represented no interest to him and Hell might froze before Sasuke would be caught planning surprise parties and…alive –metaphorically speaking.

"Wait a minute…you did brought her a _cake_ , have you?" The blonde blabbered, looking at his deadpanning raven haired friend with a comical silent screaming face. "Oh shit man, you forgot about the cake! How can you celebrate someone`s birthday without a cake?"

"Hn. What are we, kids?" What the heck was that idiot talking about, flailing like a bitch and talking nonsense. They were grown-ups. His definition of a celebration included candles, fancy delicacies, fine beverages and a tantalizing gift. Sweets were definitely not part of his idea of a birthday celebration. That was for idiots like Naruto. Go figure the blonde would say something so stupid.

"Fuck man, what the heck? And they call you a genius." Sasuke would have asked his friend about what was he thinking about when he buried his hand down his pocket and fingered his phone, tapping something on his screen, but he got his answer two seconds later, when Naruto dialed a number he hasn't seen, gluing the device on his ear. They were back into the main hall, with people eyeing them.

"Hello? Ino? There`s an emergency! I need a huge birthday chocolate cake as in NOW!"

Horror crept down Uchiha` spine and he swore he saw the film of his life playing before his slightly widened onyx orbs, in slow motion. Like he was about to die. For real. From all the people the idiot would call to ask for such a thing, it had to be _that_ Ino, the exuberant and equally hyperactive Yamanaka, whose parents owned a flower shop and a fancy bakery.

The high soprano banshee shriek blasting from the other side of the line, made Sasuke shake his head in disbelief, looking at the thumb up that the grinning blonde knucklehead has given him.

 _That didn't sound good._

* * *

::A crystal **butterfly** was caressing the sky,

Reflecting the **lights** of the rainbow,

But in the **splendor** of his mesmerizing _colors_ ,

I failed to **see** his **broken** wing::

* * *

"It`s a gift for my birthday. I know I don't deserve such a fancy present, but it is not the necklace itself the thing that makes me…feel like smiling uncontrollably." Sakura hummed to Hinata, while unconsciously tapping her fingers over the span of the golden chain, sliding down to the pendant that mesmerized and taunted her view with its glowing beauty, rolling it between her thumb and index. It had an unusual warmth and gleam, which brought her an odd sense of comfort and security.

She and Hinata have taken the chance that Sasuke and Naruto have probably lost their way back or were waiting in line at the men`s restroom –Hinata`s idea, not hers- and talked about the most girlish trivia they could think of, discovering and marveling at all the things that could bond them and they were many.

They had similar taste in sweets, music, literature, favorite subjects and also, their view over the world was reminiscent. Hinata liked to study the others` personalities and so did Sakura. Both women were deep and poetic and each had her own style, which ultimately led to being profound in feelings and mentality.

Hinata had solid principles. Sakura valued ethic and integrity. Even if she felt that life has been unfair, it didn't mean that she lost her trust in morality and dignity. Among their hobbies and fancy for gossip about stars and movies, they were also engaged in a conversation about clothes and jewelry and even if Sakura could hardly call the clothes he had back home a 'wardrobe' per se, it didn't mean she has lived under rocks.

She too used to wander alone and window shop and she also loved beautiful clothes that would make any woman depict her womanhood and feel like a Princess.

So Hinata couldn't help but ask about Sasuke`s gift, but she was polite and only wondered if it was for a special occasion. Sakura immediately told her that in fact, it was. "R-Really? Then w-what e-else it is?" The Hyuga was dying to know what else was there to make a poor woman like Sakura be happier than getting an expensive gift.

Sakura`s answer almost had it fall of the chair. "The fact that he has remembered that it was my birthday. The _meaning_ of his gesture…I cannot help but think about it." That could have been quite a romantic lyrical and deep prologue of an upcoming love story, which she has crushed with the rest of her sentence. "Even if he was dead _drunk_ when he has heard me say it."

Of course, Hinata mentally knocked her head. Sakura did mention that Sasuke was coming from a party. In fact, she knew what party for Naruto has called her in the middle for the night, all stuttering, half screaming and half stuttering and talking gibberish, being equally shit faced, begging her to come up and pick his limp ass from there, because he couldn't spot his friend anywhere.

She had Neji to help her get out of the Hyuga household unnoticed, letting her borrow his car.

Then the implication of Sakura`s words hit her full force. "Y-You wanted to…j-jump on your o-own b-birthday?" Surely, Hinata was hardly someone to seek for the spotlight, but even someone as shy and unconfident as she would shine on her birthday and wished for a marvelous party, so she couldn't comprehend Sakura`s masochistic gesture.

"Now that I hear it from someone else…it does sound pretty dumb, though at that time, it was my own way of taking it back at life and…do it on the day I was born, as it was the worst day of my life." Shockingly enough, Sakura found herself unable to spell the word _'suicide'_. At least not in the present of Hinata, because the look those amazingly beautiful gleaming pearl translucent lavender eyes were making her feel deeply ashamed.

Damn was she stupid and pathetic as hell. She wondered what was Sasuke seeing in someone like her, beside her blood? Wasn't idiocy running through her veins as well? So why was the Uchiha so eager and hungry to taste it on his own tongue?

"N-No, I-I understand i-it. K-Kind of…I-I am sorry for n-not knowing. I w-would have b-brought a present."

"Oh, don't worry about that, there was no way you would have known that we will be here today. Truth to be told, it was a surprise."

"M-May I ask you s-something m-more p-personal?" Hinata knew that maybe it was too soon to be fancying such a thing, but she was also a woman and she couldn't help but wonder. Plus, she truly hoped that Sakura would give a positive answer. She hoped for the rose haired woman to be around for a long long time, since her presence was so tonic and pleasant.

"Go ahead."

"D-Do you _like_ S-Sasuke? A-As a _man_?" Did she? Sakura didn't answer her immediately, but of course, she wasn't upset that Hinata has asked her that, it was reasonable she supposed. Problem was, she didn't know herself.

It was too soon and the events happened too quickly and they were tumultuous. In all honesty, there were many alluring things she found on Sasuke and she couldn't help but feel tempted by his sophisticated tact, his good breeding, the gentility and cultivation of his vocabulary, the refined sense of aesthetics, his regal aura and not to mention, his unreal beauty.

Plus, there was that irresistible mystery floating around the way he stroll, straight, firm, confident, radiating just the perfect amount of arrogance and intimidation that was both making people back away and be attracted. "He is a very intriguing man. I have never met anyone to be this…." She didn't know what to say.

Sakura was not a stupid high school girl with a crush. She was way over that and so were her feelings and expectations. She never thought that a decent man would ever watch her, not when she was a commoner and a no one. Maybe someone as poor as her from her neighborhood, who had a kind heart and a not so average appearance, but at least he would treat her right and be gentle. But never someone like Sasuke. Those were fantasies, even for ladies that were way over her social status.

She would be like any whore who would gladly throw herself into his bed, begging him to take her and let him have his way with her, as he deemed fit. She wanted more. More feeling than physical, though the attraction was something she wouldn't deny. Someone like the pearl black eyed Uchiha would mesmerize any sane woman with his charm, but it was way too soon to be asked such a thing.

She didn't think about nurturing romantic feelings for him. If anything, she was grateful for the chance she got. But still…she was a young woman and he was a gorgeous hot man. So until she would be able to sort the mess into her head and clear her mind, she refrained from jumping to wild conclusions.

Of course Hinata saw everything that flashed into her viridian orbs, even if the rosette was not facing her, rather than fixing the flickering candle of the chandelier. Oddly enough, the dancing jolly flickering limbs of fire were reminding her of the flames into Sasuke`s eyes. So she has asked her such a thing because she wanted to test Sakura`s self-control, the depths of her feelings and her commitment to her dignity and morals. And she wasn't disappointed. Sakura was not a hooker, nor was she an easy woman with no backbone. Even in front of someone like Sasuke, she was able to hold her ground –and hormones- look deeply into his eyes and not burst into a bubble of lewd dark superficial thoughts.

Yes, Hinata has been right. Sakura was someone that could do Sasuke so much good and she could get something deep and beautiful from him in return to her affection. How much could she got, on the other hand, it solely depended on the level of intimacy they could reach together. Sasuke and Sakura, as far as Hinata was concerned, were million miles apart, yet they had such a mysterious link that brought them together.

They weren't meant to be, but they were surprisingly so fitting together. "Y-You don't want t-to hurt h-him by giving him f-false h-hopes, right?"

"Precisely, yes. Don't misunderstand me, I am not a saint, even if I can shamefully admit that I have never been… _intimate_ to someone. It is not that I don't find Sasuke to be very _attractive_ , but…I want everything to come to me as _natural_ and do things at the right time, when I feel like I am ready to give it my  all. He has been so good to me and treated me good. I don't want to offend him in any way." She couldn't deny the obvious attraction but it might have very well been just physical.

Even if Sasuke has been blunt –she knew he wasn't the type to beat around the bush- enough to let her know that he had no problem in them sleeping together –her face turned like a steaming funnel when she thought about the way he said it- she wouldn't be just one of _those_ one night stand. That was not the way things worked between them. So far, he was gallant, so she would rather have him keep that safe distance between them.

Did they really look like lovers in the other people`s eyes, if Hinata was questioning her on such things? Or was Sasuke just that wanted by women, and she found it to be a normal occurrence? Poor man. She couldn't help but pity him. To get so much attention, yet to not find one single honest dignified pure smile, void of debauched intent.

Of course, her traitorous body was having all other ideas about how much would she seriously wanted to squirm in delight when he touched her with those appetizing lips of his, but she would put it past her hormones. Sadly, she was still a woman. A moral and respectful one, but still a woman.

"D-Don`t w-worry. I see it in y-your eyes. Y-You are not t-that kind of woman. W-Which is good. S-Sasuke-kun d-doesn`t need _a-another_ superficial w-woman in his l-life to break his h-heart." It was too late to take back what it has just slipped past her lips, but Hinata couldn't help herself.

She was inwardly cheering for Sakura to steal Sasuke`s heart, she was almost entirely precise that the rosette was a good match, who was thinking the same way he did –deep and wise, pondering over the smallest things, before making a decision- and she had control and cared about the people around her. Truly cared even if it became quite clear to the lavender eyed female vampire that Sakura was someone that was utterly, painfully and fully alone.

Sasuke too has alienated from everyone, hiding in his own cold secured den. Maybe, if just by some miracle of fate, Sakura could break down that door and enter, even if she decided to shut the door after her, at least there would be _two_ of them inside. So the loneliness would metamorphose in intimacy.

Of course, the intelligent emerald eyed woman caught her mislead right away and she kind of furrowed her eyebrows, placing down the dessert fork to dig into the newfound information. "What do you mean by another woman to break his heart? Did Sasuke have a serious relationship which turned up bad? Is this what you are talking about?"

No, if anything, Sasuke never even brought such subject up. He hasn't been a hypocrite with her and he kind of admitted that he had occasional flirts and one night stands with women, but he never let her know that there has been someone very important in his life and from what she could make up from Hinata`s words and attitude –she cast her translucent margarite orbs down her half eaten dessert and curled her fingers around her silver spoon like she was cursing herself for telling something she shouldn't have- it was something rather serious and it let a mark down on the Uchiha`s heart.

And it happened too fast for her to actually dwell on that and stop herself. She felt a painful pang inside her throbbing chest at the idea of someone playing with a man like Sasuke. Why? Why would anyone sane not want what he had to offer? That, she couldn't comprehend. "Did he have a _lover_?"

Hinata threw her head backwards, peeping past her shoulder and scanning her surroundings to make sure that Naruto and Sasuke weren't around, before she went on, telling Sakura something that she has probably figured out herself. Hell may swallow her if Sasuke caught her telling Sakura about his… "A-Actually…t-this was s-supposed to be a s-secret. H-He doesn't l-like to t-talk about h-her."

"I am sure he doesn't. He didn't say anything about that. So? Did he indeed have a woman he loved? Who was she? And why aren't they together anymore? Because I suppose….they aren't together anymore, right?" Oh just the mere thought of someone claiming the Uchiha`s heart was making funny things to her insides.

If only Sakura knew… "N-No. They are n-not together a-anymore. I-It was a v-very l-long long t-time ago." And by that, Sakura knew that for an immortal, long time probably meant decades. Maybe centuries. But it didn't matter that much, by that time. She was glad she could learn such a thing anyways. She leaned forward seeing that Hinata did the same, bending her spine to come and whisper to her.

"S-Sasuke was very i-in l-love with her. T-They h-have known each o-other s-since they were kids. I-I thought s-she liked him t-too. The w-way she would fawn over h-him, speak about him…I-I should have s-seen that s-she was insane. T-That h-her feelings w-were not g-genuine."

"You mean, she didn't love him back?"

"I-I don't know. M-Maybe she did, I-I do not mean t-to be u-unfair. She d-did make him _happy_ u-up to a point. H-He even got _engaged_ to her."

That almost made Sakura fall from her chair, if not for the fact that she was half lying with her elbows on the table and her shoulder was brushing Hinata`s, the two women basically muttering and breathing the words to each other.

Oh, things were getting interesting. Sasuke had a fiancé? If anything, he truly strike like a man who would woo many women, but not because he acted like a total player and a manwhore, who would disrespect the female gender, but simply because he would have a line of women fighting to steal the place beside him. He got everything a superficial woman would want –and sadly, that was majority: unlimited financial resources, insanely good looks, elegance, cultivation, a good family background and, to add to the almost surreal perfection, he was damn smart.

But…he wasn't just _that_ flawless. In fact, deep inside, he was lonely, hurt and he didn't trust the others. She knew and then Sakura was finding out the reason for his reticence.

Seeing all those questions whirling inside Sakura`s quizzical analytic viridian orbs, the pale eyed Hyuga went on. She has already revealed the skeleton in the closet, so she might as well go on and let Sakura know about it, just in case, so she wouldn't hurt Sasuke unintentionally by asking him whether he had a girlfriend.

Plus, she felt like she could trust Sakura`s intuition and judgment. "W-When they a-announced it to everybody they are g-going to marry, n-no one believed it. B-But I guess w-we should have s-seen it coming. S-Sasuke-kun told h-his parents t-that she would live with t-them from there o-on out, but h-his father s-strongly opposed. H-His mother, M-Mikoto-san supported him l-like always and a-approved of their relationship. S-So s-she moved to t-the Uchiha household, g-going against Fugaku- _sama`s_ strict w-will."

"Why was Sasuke`s father opposing to their relationship? Was she not wealthy or did she offended him in any way?" Sakura couldn't be sure, but from the way Sasuke refused to talk about his family and referred to his father like he was his worst enemy, he guessed that Fugaku had a tendency to disagree with everything his son did.

But then again, it was always the father who was a pain in the ass when it came to their child`s spouse. Good thing he didn't have girls, instead of boys. In any case, Sasuke`s father truly seemed like someone really scary who gave Sakura the creeps.

And, the more Hinata would open the puzzle box, the sadder her pastel lilac orbs would become and her voice would stutter even more, but it was not because her cute shyness. It was because she could detect sadness and pity in her tone.

Actually…that was the question that Hinata didn't know how to properly answer, without scaring and offending Sakura, so she was letting the wheels inside her mind work frenetically, searching for the best way to put it, but it simply wasn't. "W-Well you d-do know t-that S-Sasuke is t-the next in l-line to take o-over t-the reign o-of vampires, a-after his father, right?"

"Yes, he did tell me that he was a Prince, or something like that, but I might not fully understand the implication of it. From what he told me, it means serious business, but he refuses to step into his father`s shoes, because he has his own plans." She _so_ didn't like where that was going. Sakura hoped it wasn't that kind of totally cliché idyllic romances that ended up bad, just because one of the parents opposed.

It was unfair to make the lovers suffer such a tragically breakup that would mark them for the rest of their lives, just because of the generation gap and the over protectiveness and different opinions and ideals. She started to hate Fugaku really really bad, and she hasn't even met the man. She was biased, yes, but she couldn't help it.

"Y-Yes, h-he decided t-to advocate for a w-world where w-we will be a-able to tell the w-world who we are. N-Naruto-kun s-supported h-him right away. T-Then w-we have joined them too. H-He and his f-father were never on the same page and f-fights would often b-break."

"It was that the reason why Sasuke and his fiancé didn't get married?" It was needless to ask, because Sakura had the feeling that the raven haired youngest Uchiha and his fiancé didn't make it up to the altar and that broke her heart. He did deserve to be happy with the woman he loved.

"N-No."

That surprised Sakura a little. "Then what was the **real** reason?"

The answer made her heart come to an abrupt halt and her forest green eyes went wide as two moons. "She was a **h-human**."

"You two ladies seem to have become quite good friends, didn't you?"

* * *

::Crystal butterflies _cannot_ fly,

They _shatter_ and perish, like phantoms,

Inner demons lurking from the past.

Just like my crushed **dreams,**

It was your **lips** that sent me reeling,

To love::

* * *

 **A** / **N:** First of all, I want to take my time and send all my **kisses** and **deepest gratitude** to you guys, for taking your time to read my story, follow it, favorite and of course, sharing those amazing reviews, which always brighten up my day! If I could give all of you a million hugs and cookies, I would do it!

You guys are amazing, thank you for the feedback –really, your words are even more beautiful than the story itself, really!- I am always looking forward to hear what my readers think about my stories, especially if I am at the beginning. It makes me hopeful and…inspired? Hehe.

Secondly, before I stop boring you guys with my rambling and go bury my nose into the books I am supposed to read –those school projects- I want to answer some of the…er…not _that_ positive feedback. Ok, I will not be rude to my readers and call it constructive criticism?

Oh well…the interaction between Sasuke and Sakura is the way I wrote it, because I find it odd, unrealistic and not to mention extremely childish, to have them jump on each other from the very first time.

Plus, Sasuke is _not_ human, so I want to create this aura of royal elegance and unnatural –to the point of exaggerated traditional- cultivation and manners, simply because this is the way I envision vampires. If anything, I will definitely make things really _erotic_ and _hot –trust me, those are my favorite scenes to write, mwhaha-_ between them later on, because that too is part of my definition of immortals…

Also, I know that I might be professional sometimes…ok, many times, but I have graduated from the _Law_ School and trust me, lawyers and magistrates can be _really_ stuck up. I am swaying between these two extremes –poetical and stiff. I guess it depends on the mood. I hope it doesn't ruin the feeling of the story too much.

Oh, I get this from time to time, so I beg you guys, pretty pretty _please_ , _bear_ with my grammar mistakes or any other mistakes, because, I am _not_ a native –just someone who finds solace in writing- and even if I definitely check on the grammar and spelling, there are still things that slip my vigilance. See? If I am not a _vampire_ my vision is limited.

Anyways, thank you for letting me know the parts that you don`t like in my story, so I could have a clearer view of what I might should improve. Thank you and please do _not_ feel offended by my answer. I love ALL my readers, especially those who bother to leave a reply. _*bow my head in respect*_

All in all, I hope you guys liked this chapter.

 _Till next time…_


	4. Unconditionally, and only by your grace

:: **Chapter IV: Unconditionally** , and only by your **grace::**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

::The music of your lips,

Play the strings of my heart.

The **passion** of your scorching fire,

Has burned my mind.

And I struggled to not melt into the **enigma** of your desire,

Your cashmere voice **spell bounding** me,

I knew I should have not trade with the darkness,

But my light could only get brighter if there was only **you.**

 **Just you.**

 **With me.**

 **Lips** like the most tender butterfly`s lustrous grace,

Have moistened my quivering owns,

The feel of your touch at its swell of ambrosia and euphoria,

Have broken the boundaries of intimacy.

I folded my inquisitive tempted hands around your shoulders,

As I gave myself away to lace with your guardian arms around my waist,

While you were careful to evanescence the distance between us,

Between our h **eartbeats**.

And I was dancing on the pendulum`s unyielding ticking **concerto**.::

* * *

Both Hinata and Sakura`s hearts hoisted to their throats when Naruto`s boisterous voice rung through their eardrums, while he tapped their shoulders, coming to poke his head in between the two whispering and gossiping secretive ladies, totally amused. "N-Naruto-kun! Y-You scared me!" Hinata whipped her head around her shoulder, almost bumping her forehead on her lover`s, beat red and having an mixture of alarm, surprise and consternation on her angelic pale face, a hand flying above her heart, out of reflex.

"Watcha gossiping about? Us?" The sun kissed foxy Uzumaki winked at Sakura and Hinata`s funny looking scared and apologetically facial expressions, betting all his Ramen bowls collection that the love of his life, with her pearl translucent violet eyes and poetic lunar features has opened up the box of forbidden secrets about Sasuke and started to spill shameful things about his past. That was the reason why he decided to press her buttons more and closely followed both the ladies` reactions, just to confirm his suspicion. "Aw man, I hope it is good stuff. Ino-chan told me that ladies like to plot about torturous ways to dispose of us if we are treating you guys bad."

The worst part of their glamour blonde diva`s statement, was that she has meant every part of it. Among their small exclusive group of rebel fighters, the girls had an unwritten code and vowed to strive to be recognized as proud representative of their sex, and be infallible in terms of beauty, independency, wisdom and strength, without losing womanhood, grace and elegance. So they demanded –threatened- to be treated with respect and consideration, so the men of the group were left with two opposite choices: comply and take care of them, or die for good in a very painful way. It brought the goofy golden haired half vampire creeps rolling along his spine, making him shudder. He shifted his azure marine clear hues to Sakura and made the funniest scared figure in history. "it was sinister i am telling you!"

Even though Sakura was busy mentally registering that particular newfound information about her protector`s past, reminiscing about the mysterious lady in his life and the way she chose to continue her life without him, even though they swore each other faith and love, she couldn't prevent the escaping giggles, upon hearing Naruto`s confession, because he had that indomitable enlighten energy that made people forget their problems and curl their lips upward to laugh at him.

But her gleaming green jadeite orbs stroll to Sasuke`s indecipherable saturated onyx ones, sealing her gaze with his own, as she couldn't get Hinata's words out of her mind. The midnight haired elegant Uchiha was giving her a look that she couldn't decode, but then again, she overanalyzed his way he uplifted his steel impenetrable walls when in public, so that no one could actually interpret the things flaming into those bottomless obsidian eyes, hence not get to him and depict his foibles.

The rosy haired lady couldn't withstand the heaviness of the secret she has just came to learn and the fact that he was gazing straight into her emerald orbs, his vivid intensity surging into her mind, was a bit too much, she tucked a strand of hair around her ear, somehow realizing that Sasuke was decrypting each line of her heart, but she couldn't help but appertain with his fiancé`s situation, since she was also human, but that mysterious woman also did something that transgressed any moral or grace that Sakura had: she broke his heart.

Wasn't Sasuke afraid that Sakura might do the same?

And for that particular reason, Sakura couldn't help but feel another question arise from the pits of her investigating consciousness: wasn't Sasuke concerned that if he let her in so much, she might be bound to do the same, since the human`s condition wasn't infallible and their resolve was mellow and fell prey to their best interest and sway from the path of righteousness and virtue? Why did he trust her so much? then a frightening thought passed her mind, like a form of a painful electrical discharge of adrenaline, running along the column of her spine: what if he was nurturing thoughts of _revenge_ , and was using her to alleviate that burden of his heart, since he couldn't take back at his fiancé for her disloyalty, simply because Sakura wasn't valuing her life to begin with, and didn't quite care about what might happen to her?

If she would acknowledge that horrifying thing about him, the emerald eyed lady would not find it hard to understand his logic: if she didn't care whether she died or not, then she wasn't a _threat_ to him by living to torture his mind because she would never be his to begin with.  Belonging to someone in such an intimate way, automatically implied a deeper and lyrical way to conjoin their feelings, thus claiming a certain possession over the other`s feelings, emotions and consequently, getting one step closer to his or her weaknesses and fragility.

That was exactly the reason why Sasuke didn't want to uselessly risk such a superfluous vulnerability, so he set up a mechanical self-defense by not allowing anyone near him or his heart, so that he was the one to pierce their hearts first, with his inquisitive shrewd eyes that unraveled their secrets, so that he was the one to remain in control and not the other way around.

Consequently, the main question lingered: was Sakura really ok with that approach? Was it any possibility for Sasuke to be that corrupt? Was he masking his flagitious ambitions with his unnatural and almost surreal elegance and refinement? Has she been tricked –mesmerized- by his allure, just because he had the upper hand of the superior race and education? She truly prayed she was overanalyzing everything, because that way of challenging logic in every single tiny detail, was her natural mechanism of defense against that cruel world who wanted to always trick her.

It was Hinata`s moonlight frail stuttering voice the one to make her snap out of her inquisitive state and unlock her eyes from Sasuke`s, being convinced that he could see anything that was going on in her mind. He just seemed to have that unparalleled ability. "S-Sakura-san and I h-have a p-passion for literature a-and r-r-romance." The Hyuga addressed the two men present, conveniently hiding the last part of their conversation, elegantly deciding to approach a neutral topic and also let Naruto and Sasuke know that they have found common interests and could easily carry on a friendly warm conversation, meaning she could be part of their group and be likable to them, even if she was an outsider and a human nonetheless.

Naruto couldn't have been any happier that Hinata has silently given her _approval_ to Sakura, after she has smartly invited her to walk along the different paths that would unravel a person`s inner personality. Sakura`s passion for literature betrayed her sensible, elegant, romantic and poetic side, bringing the solar feminine side of her to the light, as well as her contemplative deep manner of thinking. She was also interested in history, especially of that of exotic empires, so she secretly cherished the beauty of unconventional sparkling wealth, rich different cultural inheritance and wasn't backing down from exploring things that were different from her world, meaning she didn't have anything against getting entangled with someone as Sasuke, who wasn't even human.

Plus, being interested by the origins of her people and ultimately her own lineage, crayoned a very insightful woman, with strong beliefs in the value of her ancestors` will and someone who wasn't as superficial as to be content with simply sharing a bed, a luxury house, a car and a bank account with a man, being interested in finding out the unaltered source of the generations that ultimately led to his birth and the ones that served as his role models.

History was the one to build a person`s or a vampire`s existence, because not having a past, meant being a shadow without a light: nonexistent and meaningless. It gave value, worth and also made someone bear both the burden of his ancestors` sins and shoulder the glory of their courage and realizations. Sakura was the type of person to go for details and find out the innate truth. She was not superficial, which was tremendously important for someone like Sasuke.

And that was something that his former lover was not. Hinata couldn't have been anymore jolly to having found that particular information. Yes, Sakura was an orphan and extremely poor, but not even once has she brought up the topic money in discussion and each time she referred to Sasuke, he didn't crayoned him as a hot man, emphasizing her attraction for his looks solely, no, she always pinpointed to his qualities and merits as a man –not even a vampire- and her appreciations for his efforts, not hiding it the fact that she was charmed by him, but she was willing to dig even deeper. "Really? Aww, that's so sweet. This Teme here," Naruto cocked his head towards Sasuke, who immediately praised him with a glare of choice for the nickname he used for him. "needs someone sweet in his miserable boring life, so she could remove that pole stuck up his brooding ass!"

Sakura couldn't help but blush at the cerulean eyed vampire`s words, and not because he was hopelessly blunt and didn't quite care about being exquisite and dignified, but because she has caught the not so subtle implication, choosing to bury her jade orbs into her half empty plate, while Hinata traded her natural shy demeanor, for a fuming one, puffs of smoke blowing from her ears, at the stares she got from the other customers who heard him.

Beside his usually annoying illegible bored expression, Naruto could feel it from his raven haired friend`s pressed roaring tone that Sasuke wanted to choke him with something, preferably his bare hands, but he did what he has been doing for centuries, meaning completely and rudely ignoring his ass, for he was such a party popper and a haughty bastard. "Dobe..."

"Anyways, Hinata-chan I have called Ino-chan and told her about the little emergency we have." He didn't have to develop his statement, for the lunar collected beautiful lover of his knew what was crossing his mind, she too thinking about the same thing, while Naruto turned to grin at a questioning looking Sakura. He went on explaining to the rosette how things really were, with such an exuberance, like he has just discovered that there was water on Mars. "When you hang up with people like Sasuke, the word birthday party is synonymous to business meetings. I mean what the hell!" he flailed like that concept was so utterly outrageous, and Sakura has come to learn that person didn't care for manners. "But but but...you now hang with cool guys like Hinata-chan and me and this is why the greatest chocolate cake is on the way to Teme's home!"

Vibrant emerald eyes shone with a luscious gleam bubbling like golden champagne the aureate ring around her viridian irises was blazing like a torch. "A cake?" No, by any means, Sakura didn't want to sound like a completely bimbo who hasn't tasted any cake in all her life, but she was a proud representative of eternal ineffable womanhood and she truly loved sweets and chocolate, so she naturally reacted to the mere idea of tasting a chocolate cake on her birthday party, since no one actually bothered to do such a sweet caring gesture for her and there they were, vampires she has just met, going as far as to feel totally comfortable in pampering her like that.

She didn't feel grateful to them, she was beyond that, she was blissed! They were so friendly with her and she didn't want to delude herself that their amity was just courtesy of her affiliation with Sasuke and they were indirectly respecting him by being polite to her. Hinata`s honesty was beaming through her pearl moonlike silvery eyes, she could read that easily, since the Hyuga was wearing her heart on her sleeve.

"Y-You called I-Ino-chan? Oh dear..." Hinata knew that the blonde was going to be a firestorm, especially when it came to glamorous tasty chocolate sweets and could create quite a ruckus just to make sure that everything went out perfectly and she kind of felt that Naruto has gone a little bit too far, but peeping at Sasuke who looked as close to horrified as someone as collected and tranquil as him could come, made her giggle. Ino would probably coax -drag- all the gang to Sasuke's stoic flat and throw the party of the century which almost always ended up with the neighbors calling the police or worse.

And Sasuke was the very epitome of courtliness, hence his family name forced him into keeping a flawless image, so having friends like that was a death sentence to him, even though Naruto always bitched him for being exaggerated and ridiculous, but he somehow needed to balance Naruto`s volcanic and extrovert personality.

"Yeah! She owns a famous pastry shop, so she can bring us a cake."

"A-At this hour?"

"Well...sure. Why not? There is still enough time till tomorrow!" Naruto stated as a matter of fact, shrugging once, totally forgetting that they had courses since he has never been an avid believer in the power of education, finding it more important to be himself and true to the others.

Vaguely, he heard his onyx eyed best friend mutter something along the lines of "your such a seedy idiot." But he didn't even felt insulted, because Sasuke didn't know how to properly curse him, to make him react. In fact, his boring stale outdated manner of speaking was not even funny, Naruto decided. His friend was so boring.

"Meanwhile...we can get the heck out of here and go celebrate Sakura chan properly, what`cha say?" He threw his hands around Sakura and Hinata's shoulders, urging them to stand and before the two ladies had the chance to question him, Naruto has dragged them both downstairs, leaving his friend behind to pay for the meal, knowing that since he had Sakura tagging along, he would follow.

"B-But, hold on a second, where are we..." Surprised forest green orbs travelled to Sasuke, as she spun her head over her shoulder, to peek at him past his tall golden haired best friend, finding an odd expression waltzing on his face. By any means, the Uchiha wasn't looking like someone pitiful and sulking for having been left behind by his acquaintances. The way he lazily slipped a hand into his pocket and the other tapping on the table, pose lean and straight like an imposing fire tree, brushing past the high clouds, looking solemn, composed and irresistible handsome was making her heart twitch.

Well, it was not like she had any choice, for she was being dragged by Naruto down and she had a hard time not tripping on the stairs and keep balance. "Ah, don't you worry Sakura-chan, let the bastard pay. He is not going to get lost, he is a big guy now haha." somehow that made her both laugh and blush. Sure, he was Naruto`s eternally best buddy and their brotherly bond was unbreakable and perennial, but she was a _woman_ , and in her eyes, Sasuke was hardly a boy, he was a real _man_ in all the splendor of his virility and demeanor.

She swore she heard Sasuke mutter a _'someday, I will kill this idiot'_ and their bicker was funny to see. She knew he didn't mean it, it was too obvious that Sasuke and Naruto were more than just friends, they were probably like brothers.

"W-What is y-your plan, N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata inquired, knowing exactly that whatever her hyperactive boyfriend had planned, was something that would cost her a lot of energy and she was hardly someone who enjoyed being amidst wild clamor and parties. "S-Shall we g-go s-shopping?" She tried, finding it extremely fitting for that occasion, plus she could buy something beautiful for her new friend Sakura, since she didn't bring any gifts, but Naruto shook his head and gave her a look that totally screamed _'you-wont-catch-me-dead-going-shopping-good-luck-in-talking-Sasuke-into-shopping',_ and she quickly regretted for bringing that into discussion.

"Nah. that is not something you do on your birthday party. I was thinking about the _amusement park_. What do you say?"

Hinata inwardly bubbled of joy, because Naruto`s idea was flawless. That was the perfect place for both spending time with friends, get to know the new ones better and also romance, it was entertainment in the purest form, but she kept her squeals fir herself, and only praised his good idea with a bright smile. "L-Let us have S-Sakura decided s-since she i-is the one we celebrate."

"Yeah, of course! So, Sakura-chan, what do you say? Should we go and break the record of who can ride the roller-coaster without crying and screaming until we go deaf?"

Both expecting beryl and moon margarite orbs sought for Sakura`s vibrant golden emerald ones, searching for any hesitation in her look, finding none. She would have love to go to the amusement park –who didn't- but she never had the chance to do so because it was far from her former foster home, the rides were expensive and she didn't have anyone to accompany her. "Actually...I have never been to the amusement park before."

Both Naruto and Hinata`s hearts sunk as their looks turned sad and sympathetic, because seriously, an amusement park was the imprint of anyone`s most spirited lovely childhood memories, but apparently Sakura has been denied the privilege of riding the carousels while her parents would take pictures of her jolly smile and guy her cotton candy. Sakura quickly realized that her confession would evoke elegiac feelings among their group, so she quickly tried to brush it off. "But is not like I didn't dream to ride carousel and get lost into the crowd of laughing happy people." She smiled to them in what hoped to be an assurance of the fact that it didn't matter that much to her.

Both Naruto and Hinata exchanged invisible knowing approving glances, then they smiled widely down at her nodding energetically. "Oh, then you are in for a good entertainment, because Hinata-chan and I love to go the the amusement parks! All of them! And the best part is that it pisses off brooding party poppers like Sasuke-Teme and Hinata-chan`s cousin. They say it is childish but we know is because they are scared shitless. hahaha!"

Sakura couldn't help but join the choir of laughing vampires, while they stroll outside the fancy restaurant, meeting the cool wind blow of the starry night, while she was having troubles in keeping her giggles at bay totally not picturing someone of Sasuke`s stature succumbing into the child in him and have fun in an amusement park. It just didn't suit him, and taking Naruto`s words into consideration, it was funny too see too.

"I am amazed you can use that mouth of yours while talking, dobe. Isn't it too much stress put on that paralyzed single neuron of yours?" All the three walking in front of him people almost jumped ten feet because no one heard Sasuke follow them, even if that was something ridiculously predictable.

Naruto whirled his head around and fluttered his clenched fist into his friend`s frowning face, as they stopped in the parking lot, howling at him. "Teme, what the heck man! Don't scare people like that, damn it!" Sakura immediately picked it up that Naruto hasn't had a simple slip of tongue, or was he extremely attentive and mindful of his choice of language to secure their hidden identities, since that restaurant was a refined choice for vampires, when he said _'people'_ and she understood what Sasuke meant by fighting along to befriend and blend into the world of mortals. Naruto, as an avid fighter of their cause, was having it encrusted in his reflexes to not put himself above the human race, automatically implying that he claimed some form of authority over them. well he was half human half vampire according to Sasuke so she guessed it was natural.

Sasuke caught their conversation and knew exactly where they were heading and that was making his mind roll around the core of insanity. He couldn't loathe overcrowded places like amusement parks more, since he wasn't a sociable man or vampire to begin with. It was already bad enough that Naruto has popped up in the middle of his pleasant dinner with the elegant Sakura, but he just had to come up with ridiculous suggestions. In all honesty, he would have rather go for his girlfriend`s suggestion and hit the –he couldn't even spell the word without cringing- mall. At least, it was easier to quickly drag Sakura in some shop and lose the two lovey-doveys, by making a run from there. "Your mental age never ceases to surprise me, Naruto. Or bore me."

Like usually, Naruto chose to just throw the Uchiha one of his choice doom glares, sticking his tongue out to a murderous looking onyx eyed friend of his, like a thirsty camel, and hollered to the two ladies. "Come on guys, let's take my car!"

Sasuke bit back a _'fuck no'_ in the last second, by clicking on his tongue and mentally cursed Naruto to all the Seven Pits of Hell and back, but didn't voice it out because there were ladies present and such an uncouth vulgar vocabulary wasn't fit of someone like him. His azure eyed friend, with the hairstyle of a sunflower and the radiance of the sun, was doing an amazing job in attracting attention and embarrass them. "Not in this lifetime. Or the next twenty ones." Taking into consideration that vampires lived forever, it meant that Sasuke would never get in the car with his friend.

Sakura was of course oblivious to why Sasuke would reject riding in Naruto`s car, while coincidentally much, the aforementioned 'dobe' has parked pretty close to Sasuke, as they wouldn't stay away from each other, not even if they meant to, being torn between following Hinata, who had a hand wrapped around hers and take a lift from the blonde vampire, or leave their side and join Sasuke. He seemed indifferent. "What is wrong with it?"

"Do you really want to _die_ , Sakura?" She froze for a moment hearing his baritone silk voice address her for the first time after the goys returned from their journey and the way he said it made her froze in spot and her stomach twist, but then she quickly realized that he was joking. Her heart however, went million miles per hour, being blitzed by apprehension. "There is a high probability to crash into a tree in the next ten minutes if you take a ride with this idiot. That if you make it to the park." Which was just around the corner, as they took a turn to get to the restaurant.

She burst out laughing at the expression that the deeply insulted Naruto had, while Hinata`s hand covered her jiggling lips, because, seriously, the exchange of insults between Sasuke and Naruto was always a precious source of amusement, since they were completely opposite, hence having opposite approaches. And Naruto was quite the unique character himself, totally not giving a damn if people who passed him laughed at him and pointed at his boisterous grimaces. "Hey! You are such an ass, you know that? I am not THAT bad!"

Sasuke would have loved to tell him that he drove like a dead blind, Alzheimer and Parkinson suffering demented 109 years old illiterate hag, but he found it too much of a bother to argue with an idiot, with the IQ level of a snail, so he simply passed the group by and beckoned Sakura to follow him. "Let's go."

She turned to look at Hinata who gave her a nod and an assuring smile, detaching her hand from hers and she quickly tailed the raven haired Uchiha back to his car, wile Naruto held the door open for Hinata to get in. She found it really funny how he could spray so many colorful obscenities, but be a gentleman with a nonchalance almost on par with Sasuke`s, as the Uchiha helped her in, mirroring his movement, as all the four of them got in the two cars.

As soon as Naruto rolled the key into ignition, starting the engine of his shiny metallic orange BMW, he rolled the window down to screech at his raven haired friend, stunning him with the way he could maneuver his ridiculously colored car –it looked like a giant Halloween carved pumpkin- without looking in front and not crash the other cars. "Oi, Teme, I bet you I will get there before you do!"

The Uchiha didn't even turned his head to acknowledge him, turning the steering when to get out of the parking lot, shooting at Naruto`s grinning and winking goofy figure blazing from the passenger seat. "I hardly consider this to be a proper time to race."

"Bwhaha, you said the very same thing last time we did it, cos you know I will totally own your ass and embarrass you in front of the ladies." He allowed the dobe to speed up past him and take the lead, thanking all the Heavens above that Naruto hasn't scratched his car in the process, barely avoiding him, while he shook his head and mumbled to a totally amused Sakura, who was getting cozy on the passenger seat.

* * *

"I don't know why I even try."

"You said he is your best friend. You two are truly _opposite_. One would truly doubt that you two are friends. But you know what? Maybe this is what makes your bond so special and strong." Sakura could see it all too well that maintaining the linkage between people of such different personalities took a lot of compromise and mutual understanding so that was why she respected and appreciated the friendship that Naruto and Sasuke had, learning from Hinata that the other vampires friends of their, were also having different dominants of characters.

Sasuke knew she has figure out the way his and Naruto`s bond worked and he was thankful for her bright mind and for the fact that he didn't have to explain the unexplainable to her. He was so tempted to take a sharp U-turn and ditch Naruto and Hinata, but he has caught the way Sakura`s bright emerald orbs shone when Naruto brought up the topic 'amusement park' to her and he wasn't going to be the party popper that Naruto made him be and ruin it for her. "Aa."

"Are we really going to the amusement park?" As if reading his mind, she softly asked him, probably mindful of his aversion of such form of entertainment, but she truly truly wanted to go there.

"Do we have a choice? If we ditch them, I will never hear the end of it."

"Awesome! I have never been there." Sakura sang to him, while her emerald eyes followed the outlines of the tall buildings, the flashing panels and the crowded streets, gluing her forehead to the tinted window, like a child. "Is it far?"

"Half an hour, depending on the traffic." Without even being aware of it, Sasuke was deeply amused by Sakura`s characteristic bright young personality and her easygoing approach. She was flashing colors like a mini rainbow, her beauty was fresh and mysterious, her candid smile so astonishingly untouchable and floral and her glow was blitzing the darkness around, she was so solar.

"Do you have some music?" Sakura found herself asking, and her only guesses for her sudden boldness was the pleasant feelings she nurtured when in Sasuke`s vicinity, which was unexplainable since he was hardly a sociable entertaining man, or someone vivacious and cozy like his extrovert golden haired friend, but she couldn't help it. Not waiting for an answer –it was probably negative since Sasuke didn't strike like a hardcore party person- Sakura`s fingers dashed on what she guessed was the DVD player and pressed a random button, but instead of turning the FM or the mp3 player, on, she has changed the navigation coordination, setting it up to Suna, instead of the amusement park. "Oh! I am sorry."

Quickly wanting to fix her mistake, Sakura pressed another button which she hoped to be the good one, but instead she turned the AC, which was set on maximum and the next thing she knew, a strong cool air blew straight on her face, making her long coral locks flutter on her shoulders, while she averted her face, screeching. "Auch!"

Sasuke beside her was having a really hard time in stifling his laughter, and that was saying a lot since he was immune to clumsiness since he was friends with Naruto, but he couldn't help himself, that young woman was so helplessly oblivious and looked like Alice in Wonderland and her cuteness was contagious.

She was thorn from a typical cliché Disney story, where the main character was struggling to blend in a world that was unfamiliar, new and superior, but she was being so much like herself, so bright and unhandy that it amused him to no end.

Without even removing his onyx eyes from the windscreen, following the scorching car of a blonde idiot who was cutting the lines and speeding up on the fast line, urging Sasuke to follow the delirious clown character to the journey of Hell, he pressed the right button, stopping the air conditioning and turning the FM on. Naruto could mock him until the world might fall, but Sasuke would not fill his car up with useless items as audio CDs.

Wordlessly, a very flushed and completely embarrassed Sakura mirrored his movement, messing with the frequencies until she found a local radio station that streamed Christmas carols. By the suave soft voices of the artists, it was a choir of children. After a whole minute of completely silence from Sasuke and Sakura`s part, the jade eyed woman started to giggle and hum softly following the rhythm and the flow of the song, totally enjoying herself, like she completely forgotten the other presence from beside her.

Sasuke looked at her in a funny way, eyebrows slightly curbed up, while Sakura had her jade orbs squeezed, a delighted expression on her face, her lips pursed as holly tunes were leaving her mouth and she was swaying her fingers in front of her, like she was a conductor, completely feeling the music surging through her body.

"Do you like this?"

"Why not? Because there are eight more months until Christmas?" She casually asked, totally not bothered by the fact that she was being in an insanely expensive vehicle, with a pretty famous man and vampire driving said vehicle, listening to Christmas carols in advance, unperturbed and enjoying the suave melodic voices of innocence coming from the children`s hearts, through the stereos. Clearly an atypical woman. "It doesn't have to be for one single day. We can be better for the entire year. The holy spirit..." Instead of finishing the sentence she has started, Sakura simply trailed the rest of her words, turning on her shoulder and using her index finger to she was drawing hearts and stars on the foggy clouded window.

Then she accidentally put the volume up making them both cringe, before she quickly lowered it so that they will not go deaf. The short incident only made her smile more, because random people, especially teens were turning their heads to see the luxury car blasting Christmas carols, instead of the anticipated hot new hits.

Surprisingly, no acid or sarcastic remark came from Sasuke who kept his usual stoicism and the comfortable silence, and didn't say anything, and it wasn't because he was most of the times diplomatic and genteel, but because there was something in the way she smiled and laughed, pouring pieces of her heart into the tinker bell soprano giggles of hers, that was so unfamiliar and uplifted her entire aura to the level of divine and intangible, and that mystery surrounding her was intriguing him, because he couldn't place where was all that spirit was coming from, but its manifestation was at its peak when she beamed.

Was that woman happy without even being aware of it and she asked for a deeper insight of the aforementioned feeling of ecstasy, just because she didn't have a name for what she was feeling, consequently didn't recognize it when she experienced it?

Nonetheless, those small gestures she did, which were so trivia and unimportant, yet so full of meaning coming from an over analytical person like her, was something that made Sasuke shift his gaze to her more than he was comfortable with, because Sakura truly looked like she was having fun in his presence. Something that the other acquaintances, both vampires and human, found it a hard improbable thing to do, since Sasuke was definitely not someone who would be complacent with foolish entertainment.

But the way she turned the interior of his car into a blazing halo of shimmering lights, made it really hard for the Uchiha to keep his eyes on the road and properly drive. He set his mind on autopilot and commanded it to focus on the simple task of driving straight, keep up with Naruto –the idiot was already twice the speed limit- and ignore the soft bells jittering from the passenger`s seat, but it took all his will-power to be…himself. Sakura was conjuring a part of him that he has strived to tame down and eventually make it cease away and leave his system for good: his jovial teenage, wild and unperturbed crazy happy side, which was synonym to fragility and vulnerability and that was unacceptable.

"You are definitely something else." His velvet baritone voice made Sakura`s skin crawl in delight, as it reach her and enveloped her senses in a coat of dark chocolate. She both hated that fragility and inability to resist his imperial charms and feel elicited to be in his presence. She knew she was being childish, but she couldn't help herself, Sasuke was driving like his car wasn't even touching the road, distance was melting into the wings of the lights along the way, his smooth car was purring like a content cat and she was going to the amusement park in the company of a mesmerizing vampire and his totally sweet friends. It was evoking alien concepts inside her fluttering heart and she didn't know how to properly interpret and respond to the calling of the vibrant emotions she was feeling, but it was enchanting and she wanted to indulge into that warmth and sink in bliss.

"You are hardly the one to talk, Mr. Vampire _Prince_." She turned her head on her left shoulder to peep at the relaxed driving ebony haired Uchiha, taunting him, while taking in the seductive unsullied elegance of his stance and features as he focused on simple tasks. "I bet you don't like it when the others call you like this. Am I right?"

She has totally figured him up, but for an intelligent woman like Sakura it was not the most difficult thing to do, since she could easily see that Sasuke was not the one to exclaim triumph because he won a title to embellish his reputation, that he hasn't worked to obtain it. "What makes you think like that?"

"Because you strike like the type to work hard for everything and don't take anything for granted. You feel like it is a title that you haven't earned it thought your own hard work, so you don't accept it for free."

"Hn." The fact that he was still stunned to realize how well that stranger knew him and how easy was for her to sneak under the layers of his skin and reach deeper and closer to his real self, without trying to fake an image of her which was not herself, was well secluded from his eyes, but Sasuke inwardly praised her for her intuition.

Yes, he despised it when he was being called that way with all his might, because it was not only a title that he didn't deserve since he has earned it for free –a conceptualization of an outrageous pompous longtime tradition started by arrogant ancestors of his- but a label that he wasn't identifying himself with or related with it, since he wasn't pertaining with the notion and the ideal behind it. Sasuke didn't want to rule over the Vampire reign, he wanted to **unite** them with the human kind and melt the barriers between them, so they could coexist as one single superior race, living in  peace and much desired harmony.

Accepting the fact that he was his father`s prideful and ferocious heir, meant he was embracing his ontology and preconceptions, while denying his purpose in life and concoct mischievous machinations to rule over the mortals and be a constant source of fear and a destructive threat, which was utterly repulsive for Sasuke. And Sakura has smartly guessed what his thoughts were, deducing it from the short things he has let her know.

"See? I can see tell this things about you." She let her jade inquisitive orbs lingered one more moment, which seemed like an eternity, to look at his profile, but she quickly got shy and looked away. "I always told myself that if I ever make it to the amusement park, I will have ice cream. It must be the tastiest there."

"I could recommend you two Italian gelato shops, if your desires are such."

"No, it has to be the tastiest there, because it is spontaneous, hence the mystery is not lost." Whether her cryptically words were meant to have the scouted meaning, Sasuke wasn't sure, but he has been very receptive to it, smirking at the glowing pink haired beauty, catching her –for the millionth time- taking subtle glances at him, trying her very best to not be intrusive, rude and obvious, but falling miserably because he was not human and consequently neither were his reflexes.

"Do you like mysteries, Sakura?"

"Don't you?" She grounded his question, throwing the ball back into Sasuke`s court, smartly challenging him into making it obvious that he found her fascinating just because she was a little bit more than the eyes could see, but to Sasuke, her **ineffable** didn't lie in her cultivation and vast acknowledge of philosophical lines, but her **eternal womanhood**. That was what threw him off each time she was doing something that he couldn't place in any stereotype, simply because she was pulverizing the concepts he had about women.

"This world hardly has anything more to offer me." The Uchiha simply answered and he wasn't lying, since he has been living for so long and witnessed the changes of the world, while he remained indomitable to its rapid flow, only adding to the vast foundation of his wisdom and education. "But it doesn't mean that there is nothing there left and yet to be discover to fascinate and intrigue me." And by that, he meant a woman like her, who was the embodiment of so many unexploited and unexplored to him universes such the suave enigma of feminine grace, the beauty and the strength of discovering so much strength into sensibility and frail, as well as the unadulterated raw purity of the smile embellished with diamonds.

"Are you a seeker for enigmas, even if you don't know what lies ahead? Didn't you like to be the one in _control_?" So Sasuke was not a control freak and there was a playful side taking shelter in the depths of that over abused self-control, huh? She couldn't help but be more and more fascinated by that ravishing beautiful raven haired vampire and Sakura was positive that an _eternity_ wasn't enough to decipher all the conundrum that added to the complete piece that Sasuke embodied, but it was definitely worth the journey.

"Just because I tend to overthink things and not let emotions take the best of me, it doesn't mean I don't get bored too. It proves that you cannot read me as easily as you might think."

" _More_ than a vampire? What can it be superior to this?"

His answer shocked Sakura in simplicity and depths of the concept, as Sasuke turned to grace her with a smirk so sinfully sexy, that made her heart tango on the strings of a sensual blazing Latino rhythm. "I am a _man_." As a vampire, there was not much that Sasuke could add to spice up his life, since his race was depicted by having reached the apogee of all that immortality had to offer, in terms of unparalleled beauty, sexuality, power and wealth, but as a man, his journey in unraveling the mystery of the ethereal in a woman has just begun. The intangible image of her purity, the protection, the need to dominate, poses, to make her dependable to him, make her _love_ him, yearn for him, give herself to him, and give his heart to her, trust her, return to her as he made her the altar of his home, his shelter during storms, his umbrella during rain, the lighthouse during a sea storm.

Sakura`s ear lobes and her cheeks covered with a coral perusal when she understood the extent of his words and laugh at him, fumbling with her fingers on the radio just to keep herself busy and stop that upbeat feeling that made her airy and lightheaded, until she found a love song she liked, namely an old school love ballad. She let her fingers slide from the touch screen of the player and she peeped at Sasuke. she could see he was smirking at her obliviousness and she hardly contain a smile, finding it odd how she smiled, giggled and laughed more in the past 24 hours, than in her entire life, but she couldn't help herself.

Sasuke was so unpredictable, in his unrivaled mesmerizing resemblance to the ocean: he could be both serene, tranquil, warm and inviting, and, at the same time, unrestrained, wild, free, impossible to tame and be washed by dangerous rolling waves during his days of storm, knowing exactly how to adapt and mold to her switching moods, with the nonchalance of a reputed actor. Which mask he decided to wore, was the free choice of his exceptional genius and emotional intelligence.

Plus, the obvious was flashing before her eyes, cutting down the air supply from her windpipe, he was so breathtakingly handsome and there was also that trailing unreadable tension between them, which was not in the bit uncomfortable, and yet, the young lady with cherry blossoms carved in her long tresses didn't know what to do, for she has never feel _anything_ to resemble what she was experience while in the vicinity of Sasuke, usually when there was something uncomfortable one would like to crawl out from there, but it was the opposite, she wanted to touch him and vaguely she asked herself how would it be to put her hand atop his one which was resting on the gear shift.

Would he retract it? Funniest thing was that Sasuke subtly followed the gestures and knew what she was thinking about, but he wasn't feeling uncomfortable by the things running through her mind in the bit, because beyond being aroused by the unreachable image of his perfection in forms and demeanor, Sakura was attracted by the depths of his character like she was mesmerized by a hard covered romance and mystery novel, seeking for the hidden message, which was yet to be unraveled.

Unlike the majority of the women whose eyes were talking the sultry of their minds, mentally undressing him and begged him to pleasure them in ways that only he could do, being turned into a sexual object of debauched fantasies and lecherous superficial and physical adulation, Sakura was falling into the category of enigmatic erotica, sliding along the swells of intimacy and sophisticated sensuality.

Maybe that was the reason why Sasuke has offered her the opportunity to go as far as to sleep with him, if she wanted to, not because he was the ultimate player, but because her contours were crayoned in the irresistible sepia shades of the supreme femineity which no man, be it mortal or vampire, could fight against. It was the call of nature, the ancestral spell of his every fiber, to respond to such a conjure, and Sasuke was powerless in front of the virtue shining so bright into her jadeite eyes.

Those eyes...two pieces of shimmering diamonds, radiating the glow of virginity, melting the light that was falling on the polished surfaces and stealing the colors of the rainbow, looking at him in a way that made him unable to avert his stare.

While Sasuke was trapped into a meditative state of mind, summoning all the most philosophical explanations for his abnormal attraction to a young lady so simple yet so intricate, Sakura was feeling a radiating jolly as they were getting closer to the amusement park, her eyes filled with twinkles while following the glowing lights of the park, unfolding before her mesmerized stare, in all the splendor of their jubilance.

Since it was already sunset and the last day of the weekend, the place was filled with people and families, of all ages, couples on a date, children and elders spending quality time together, and finding a good parking spot proved to be extremely challenging.

Miraculously, Sasuke has managed to spot a parking lot farther from the entrance, taking someone else`s place, who has just left, while Naruto found one not too far from them. As they get out of the car, the blonde immediately howled to them, waving energetically to them, foolishly thinking that they didn't see him –who could ever miss Naruto`s presence? "Teme, Sakura-chan, here! Let's go, we have so many rides to try on!"

Sasuke already felt his temples throb and the moment all the clamor, roars, cackles, loud laughters and screams touched his eardrums, he swore he was on the verge of getting back into his car and drive off that horrendous packed place, but he knew it was _important_ to Sakura, who seemed to having been hit by a rocket of euphoria.

The Uchiha vampire Prince didn't like that place in the bit, it was crowded and childish, and he didn't see the point in acting like an immature teenager. Sure, he has also been a child and found the fascination of the place which looked like a thorn page from a fairytale, and he couldn't be a hypocrite and deny its appeal for a juvenile, but he was a grown up male and he couldn't be hypnotized by a pompous opulent display of golden red, bright green, orange and purple nets of beaming bright lights and loud annoying music.

* * *

He sighed and raked his hand through his ink jet ruffled hair, locking his car, while Sakura beside him was having an unusual glow of herself, her palms pressed together in a praying mode, intertwining her fingers and had the smile of a century plastered all over her face, she was glowing like the pale moon rising from the abyss of the velvet pink horizon and he couldn't peel his eyes off her. She was so beautiful. "Wow, it is...more amazing than I have imagined!" she breathed dreamy to Sasuke, while her orbs were gyrating to all the attractions that she could comprise in her field of view.

A star falling from the sky, taking human form and discovering the world around her, by touching it with the tip of her angelic small fingers, that was how her heavenly silhouette looked like and if the color of her dress wouldn't have been the archetype of sin and sensuality –vivid wine red- Sasuke could have sworn that she resembled a stellar snowflake, in the precision and perfection of tangled complex fractals and shape.

"Then what are we waiting for? Come." He beckoned her in that imperative yet gallant way that made her insides squirm in delight, as she followed him suit to an expectant Naruto and Hinata, as the sister of the bright fool moon quickly linked arms with her. Sakura didn't expect her to be so friendly and comfortable around a stranger, and her first reflex was to flinch but she didn't push her amity away, responding. The two companions were right behind them following close as they walked past the entrance, already finding themselves enveloped in the cheerful bright rhythm and the tumult around. "D-Do you like it?"

"Of course, who wouldn't? Look at all those lights and oh my, that one looks like something I wouldn't ride after dinner." Sakura pointed her index finger to the majestic roller coaster, while Hinata totally agreed. She also loved parks to death, having that jolly innocent child side that made Sakura a walking magic, and she also stayed away from dangerous rides, being all down to earth, careful and easily intimidated by obvious threats and adrenaline outbursts.

"That one," Naruto started, while his cerulean orbs turned into flashing heart shapes, taped her shoulder, leaning forward his head between them to talk, since the music and shouts were too loud for them to have a decent conversation. "is the biggest in the country! I have ride it for ten times in a row, then threw up on Sasuke-Teme`s new shoes. Bwhahaha, I couldn't convince the boring jerk to come, though. Maybe you could help me, I wanna see if he is that mighty as he claims he is."

Upon hearing Naruto`s statement, Sakura swirl her head over her shoulder giggle while Sasuke roses an eyebrow at her, figuring out that his golden haired foxy friend has said something stupid and embarrassing about him or them. He looked completely out of his element, like a fish drowning in salty waters. There was energy, laughter, loud, crowded and sweets, everything eh seemed to avoid, but he was trying to fight the amalgamation of vivid sparkling tiring energy of a never-ending mindless euphoria, with his normal weapons of choice, namely his apathy and self-control.

Sakura`s eyes were gyroscopes as she marveled at all the rides that were unfolding before her eyes in all the splendor of their appeal: water rides, train rides, pendulum rides, car rides, carousel, haunted houses and sweets all over. There was a heavy smell of caramel, peanuts and cotton candies, her eyes were twinkling like stars and the smile on her face never died. So many things to see, an endless source of childhood fantasies that she has been deprived of, and Sakura vowed to herself to make that night a memorable one. She couldn't have been in a more pleasant beautiful company, they liked her back and she was in a dreamy place.

Their small group stopped in front of the haunted mansion ride, since it was one of the most famous amusement park attraction and it was in their way as they lazily followed the endless line of strolling people, walking aimlessly to an indefinite target, the word 'spontaneous' being the supreme ruler there. "So? Where should we head first?" Naruto rubbed his hands, like a Goblin with naughty thoughts, being reminiscent to a kid in a candy store, during Christmas. He absolutely loved Haunted Mansions, as well as the house of mirrors, because he knew that Sasuke found them the most annoying things in the universe –beside him- and that way Naruto could fructify the opportunity to push his buttons further and fuck with him, which was funny by default.

"Home." Sasuke flatly answered and everyone knew that he was being bloody serious and that was the reason why the barely stifled their laughter, because, seriously, it was just so funny to see such a stiff serious person like the Uchiha vampire in a place that was so out of character and expressed everything that he was not.

Naruto of course, being Naruto, he didn't miss such favorable circumstances to laugh at his stuck up best friend and rub it in his face that he was stuck with them for a few hours, even if he liked it or not. "Ya` know, there is thins thing that we the normal not socially retarded ones do and it is called having _fun_. Party popper, don't mind this ass guys," The blonde turned around to grin at the two ladies, ,cerulean orbs going impossible wide as he took in the flashing board and the leaking blood huge letters on the rooftop. "What do you think of the haunted mansion?"

"I-I d-don't know w-what to say, i-it scares me."

"Ah, don't you worry Hinata-chan, this is why I am here, to protect you!" He winded his hand around her waist protectively and tapped his thumb on his chest, proving that he was a proud representative of his gender, and he wouldn't let any ghost approaching his lover as long as he was around.

It was Sasuke`s turn to snort at the blonde, knowing it all too well that the idiot would be the first one to dash out running for his life, since the topics ghost and paranormal activity were taboo for him. "You are the first to run and shout like the cry baby you are, dobe."

"There is no need, since nothing is scarier than your brooding and stuck up attitude, you jerk!"

Sakura couldn't help herself as more giggled escaped her lips. She didn't know what was funnier: the murderous look on Sasuke`s face or Naruto`s loud chuckles and mockeries. One thing was for certain: one could never get bored with those two friends tagging along, that was for sure. "I want to see why all those people are screaming." The rosette declared, being all too amused by all those couples and kids who were lurching on the entrance, stumbling and tripping on the narrow stairs, with their hair ruffled and a mild scarred expression on their faces. Then they would burst out in laughter and go buy another ticket.

"Then it's settled. Come on, let's go get tickets." They all followed the lead of Naruto, waiting in line –a pretty big one- to buy tickets to the tour of horror, eavesdropping at the ones who have just exited the house and claimed that it was the scariest thing, beside their mothers-in-law`s morning pillow hair and cucumber mask. A young dude in his twenties, dressed in a mummy, showed them the way to the entrance. "Watch your steps, this damn place is poorly illuminated." Sasuke`s baritone rung from behind the group, as he has advised his rose haired companion, who was walking in front of him, having her shoulders bent forward to not bump her forehead on a giant furry spider hanging on the door. Straight ahead, there was a maze of pitch darkness and blinding colorful blue and purple lasers, blinding the eyes and tricking the eyesight, hence the unexpected sinister touch.

"Right." Someone dressed as a dead person, wrapped in baggy ruffled dusty clothes, peeling decaying skin layers hanging on his bare arms and neck and bones protruding from the cut knees and his bald head, popped out from a giant mahogany coffin they have just passed, making a very convincible horror loud grumble, followed by a very suggestive 'BOO!', scaring the visitors shitless. "Oh!" Totally not expecting the…unexpected, Sakura whirled on her heel, heart bursting out of her ribcage and almost jumped on Sasuke who was keeping close to her.

Out of pure sharp reflex, his hands curled around her slim waist, as a short smirk bloomed on his thin lips, but she couldn't quite see amusement dancing on his handsome face, since it was dark inside, but she definitely felt his warmth percolating on her half bare skin as his mint fanned on her forehead. Wasn't she stupid and scared as a rabbit? "Haha, sorry." She tucked a strand of hair away of her eyes, blushing at the unexpected contact, while she couldn't help but inwardly poke her perverted inner self with a baseball bat, for chanting at her _'Now that is some good flirting opportunity, girl'._

Clumsily and feeling all that swarm buzzing inside her chest, she pulled back from Sasuke, smiling coyly at him, knowing that he _could_ see her in the darkness and turned around, continuing her journey through the maze of narrow poor illuminated corridors, trying to anticipate where the next scary thing would come from. "He looked so real." Naruto on the other hand, was snickering in front of her, for he has totally caught the short intense sparkling scene. And Hinata did the same, though the last dressed in mummy person has scared the living daylights out of her, so she tightened her embrace of her boyfriend`s strong arm, sticking close to him. She was half tempted to activate her Byakugan and see every horror character that lurked from the shadows, or hid behind the coffins, funerary stones, graves and tombs or huge green jars with radioactive leaking substances, but she decided against it.

She stretched a hand behind her back, turning to whisper to Sakura. "They a-always change t-the decorations. E-Everytime is different and y-you can never anticipate what is next. They s-scare me."

"I like the chandeliers and the roses." The rosette pointed towards a pretty romantic and seductive decorated corner, that resembled a Victorian chamber for women, with red velvet and golden curtains and bed sheets and a four posted bed, covered with rotten red rose petals and jewelry. Then as she kept on focusing on that arrangement and a flickering chandelier on the nightstand, for a reason that she couldn't comprehend, a sudden sinister lecherous low pitched laughter roared through her eardrums as she cringed.

"See that brooding emo looking Frankenstein there?" Naruto who was too looking at the exact thing, pinpointed to a particularly interesting looking dressed up man or woman, who seemed to have a log instead of the right leg, a missing arm, ripped green and blue clothes hanging on his or her contorted body, a sinister grin, purple rouged lips and a very suggestive blood covered meat cleaver stuck in the middle of the head, in a very poetic way, fluttering his hand at the passer byes. "It looks like Sasuke Teme when getting shitfaced."

"I will kill you." Was the most intelligent and evocative thing that Sasuke had to say to his imbecile sugar rush blonde haired friend and Naruto didn't know which was scarier: the sinister character who was welcoming them on the journey through the haunted place or his raven haired friend`s alto pissed off voice echoing through the passageway. But unlike the fancy looking monster there, Sasuke`s threat was damn serious and far more menacing and promising pain, torture and a torturous agonizing prolonged death.

Then, as they continued to walk carefully, so they wont trip on something, especially the girls who were having high heels or bump their heads in the hanging horror elements on the walls –bats, witch heats, logs, spiders or ghosts miniatures- some hands shot to them from the improvised walls made of velvet curtains and tapped their shoulders, not enough to hurt or scratch them, but enough to freak them up. "AH!" Both girls stopped to shriek and cry out loud, while the tingles from the touches of the screaming hands from the walls lingered on their skin, amplified by the vivid imagination of their minds.

Sakura felt someone hold her shoulders steadily and she was one step back from slapping the hands off her body, but she calmed her nerves down when they pushed her gently forward., urging her to continue to walk and her body immediately recognized the getting familiar amazing grace of the owner and she silently complied, a hand flying above her left breast, where her poor heart was pumping furious blood running through her veins. Sasuke was breathing on her nape, giving her tickles along her forearms, as the tiny puff of hair from behind her ears perked up. "This is ridiculous."

No, as much as he let logic work in his favor, Sasuke simply couldn't comprehend the reason why Sakura and his two friends, as well as the rest of the people inside, were so damn scared about something so impromptu, absurd, completely fake and preposterous. He simply couldn't. Among all the other inhabitants of the getting annoyingly narrow passageway, he was the only one who was aspirational unfazed by everything that happened around him, like he was blind, deaf and insensible to the ones who were putting a lot of effort in proving it to the raven haired Uchiha that the money he spent –wasted- on the ticket was worth it, without success.

He even fought the urge to smirk when a particularly nonsensical half zombie, half mummy looking questionable frightening character approached him, walking like Naruto when he was dead drunk, with his arms stretched in his direction, mumbling incoherent shit as 'brain' or 'blood' or 'I need flesh' trying to be impressive, and the moment Sasuke shot him a doom glare which was perfectly blending with the thick indomitable darkness around, looking like he was pupil less as longer strands of his rebel locks cascaded down his equally jet eyes, all adding to the really sinister effect, said representative of the horror thematic tour visibly squirmed under his costume, gulped once and took three large steps back, tripping on a log and falling straight on his butt, muttering a vicious curse and a suggestive _'Auch'_ rubbing his throbbing stinging area, forgetting about his purpose there.

"They count of the fact that we don't know what is there to come up next." Sakura found herself explaining –more to calm herself, than to Sasuke- but she quickly realized that they had a similar discussion about the unforeseen in his car and the symbolic parallelism made her realize the reason why the handsome vampire behind her was leisurely walking like he was in broad daylight, strolling down the boulevards. "Is this why it doesn't faze you?" He didn't pull a muscle, but she could feel his beautiful big onyx silvery gleaming eyes cast on her, as their intensity made her skin crawl in pleasure.

Of course such thing was as fearsome as nonsensical, laughable and preposterous in his eye, giving the fact that he was who he was and his character was hardly baffled and confounded by such goofiness, but still, that place was betting on the innate inborn reflexes ingrained in a person`s nature, since the beginning of time, namely the instinct to survive and react to possible threats and Sasuke has once been a mortal and then he turned into a vampire with his senses running on haywire, being amplified to its peak, so she quickly come to understand that Sasuke hasn't lost those automatic body responses, but he _trained_ them into following his will, nailed and honed them into fine weapons able of astonishing control, hence his tremendous power and fine lethal level of danger.

Her train of contemplative thoughts about the raven haired impressive male tailing –and guarding- her back were interrupted as she was being busy bursting out in laughter at Naruto who let out a short high pitched screech, bouncing on his feet, like an old nanny seeing white rats squirming around her legs, because a sharp split in three scythe fell in front of him and it was covered in blood.

Sasuke shook his head at the blonde hyperactive knucklehead, knowing it all too well that the dobe was truly and heartedly pissing off his pants, being scared till the core, not believing that it was precisely that one character whose skills were on par with his, finding it so ironic from Fate to mock him like that, having a dark, fine and unparalleled sense of humor and a way to prove it that his ways were puzzling and twisted.

"Why would it scare me since they have made their purpose clear? Plus...they try to take advantage of my easily aghast human side." Upon hearing his statement, Sakura couldn't prevent the shudders rolling down her spine, when her farsighted mind have realized the two implications nested into Sasuke`s words: he was not running away from the unpredictable and enigmas, but he would like to stumble across of a mysteries that he hasn't encountered as both living human and vampire, something unique, plus he wasn't discriminatory and he was more dangerous than the appearances and charades around, and they were the ones surrounded by danger even if it might seem the other way around, plus he tried to train his reflexes and sharpen and tame his human weaknesses, being the archetype of superior man who strived to achieve perfection. "I know there must be something spooky even for you. I will just have to pay attention." She turned around and grinned at the raven haired unflappable bored looking Uchiha, then turned back to laugh at bats and spiders falling from the wall on their shoulders.

Hinata was yelping and squeezing Naruto`s hand, while trying to bury her face into his broad chest, while said brave dobe was brushing off some insects falling off her violet long hair, as the scene was both cute and funny to see, since both were flinching and jumping at everything that came in contact with parts of their bodies.

As the small group was advancing, more fog and green lasers were shooting from anywhere, as well as flickering buzzing bulbs, creating an eerie creepy atmosphere. skeletons, demons, scary hags were loitering around, popping up from nowhere, laughing, smiling and looking demented and ready to strike and Sakura would admit that they tried to make it as realistically as possible, but her favorite part was the irony at its epitome in the form of someone dressed as Dracula, coming to offer flowers to all the ladies and beaming its fake sharp fangs, licking his lower lip. She definitely didn't stifle back her laughter, because she has learned the truth from Sasuke, who was, paradoxical enough, a real vampire. And definitely way _sexier_ than that wannabies pale skinny dude who was trying.

Sasuke remained completely silent, only paying mild attention not to stumble on something that crawled at their feet or prevent the falling from nowhere to poke into his eye, and look like a total moron –Naruto-. Occasionally, something would brush over their ankles and Sakura swore that some zombie has touched her butt but she wouldn't be sure.

The moment they finally get outside, Sakura thanked all the Heavens that it was dusk so she wouldn't have troubles in adjusting her vision to light, but she saw twinkling colorful dots all around her field of view, from all the light effect. Naruto in front of her, was white as Casper`s twin brother and sweating like he has jogged to the marathon. They all laughed at his goofy foxy bloody scared figure, even Hinata who was equally scared but couldn't help herself. "Man, they get better every time I swear!" A hand was resting atop his ticking heart, out of reflex, as he was more perceptive than the pure blood vampires, since he was half human.

"What a dobe." His raven haired friend deadpanned at his cerulean eyed exaggerating friend, raking a hand through his disheveled fluttering locks, mentally cursing all the hands that had the audacity to touch his locks –probably women- while trying to scare him, with a bit too much passion. "Can we go to something less..." he tried to look for the proper words so that he wouldn't insult Sakura and Hinata with a vicious rude obscenity of choice. "...bizarre and harebrained?"

The only reason why Naruto hasn't come up with a street picked colorful insult to curse his friend back from probably insulting him in his own Uchiha fancy ineligible way was because he didn't understand half of his sentence, so he merely ignored him and shouted out loud. "The roller coaster!"

Hinata beat everyone to react to that horrendous idea, by voicing out her dissagreement. "I-I don't w-want to ride that one." She truly didn't, even though the moonlight enlighten beautiful vampires was not as panic-stricken and shy as anyone might foolishly underestimate her, but definitely riding the roller coasters was something that didn't have a privilege place on her _'to do'_ list, simply because she wasn't an avid runner for adrenaline. She was a down to earth level headed woman, with a soft spot for romance and sweets, not dangerous life threatening forms of entertainment. She has witnessed countless accidents happening in amusement parks, plus, her mind was doing flip flops while following the loops and rapid lurches of the said speeding train. People and vampires undercover were screaming at the top of their lungs for a reason, besides being trendy.

* * *

Sakura`s glance was divided between Naruto and Hinata, not actually too convinced to try it on and see for herself if its fame was on par with the terror crawling along her spine, based on the stories she has heard about roller coasters and she was kind of afraid. "I don't know what to say. Is it that bad?"

"Horrifying, but damn...you will not be able to walk straight for ten minutes. I couldn't get Hinata-chan`s cousin to ride it. Or this bastard here." Naruto confessed, pointing to Sasuke, who, didn't know the meaning of the word 'scared' or 'reticent', but, of course, he only found it unproductive and ineffectual, to the point of ridiculous and fruitless. What was so good in having your stomach turn and churn like he has been drowning in alcohol three days flat or have your sense of balance bombarded and crushed down? That masochistic side of some specimens was a foreign concept to him.

"Hinata?" Sakura turned to the coy Hyuga heiress and she shook her head at the emerald eyed woman, silently begging her to take her advice and not get a ride, with Naruto from all the people or vampires or anyone for the matter. The dobe was only brave as far as the roller coaster was on the station. Once operating, he was worse than the kids who tried to break each other`s records.

"N-No, I w-will wait here if you guys want to g-go. B-But I would suggest t-that you don't try it."

"We should all find something to enjoy." Sakura suggested, totally trusting Hinata`s judgment and clairvoyance, rubbed her chin and crunching her nose, so that she looked very contemplative and totally cute. "What about the Ferris Wheel?" she pointed her finger in the direction of the giant white shining gyrating wheel.

There were many movies with lovers and jolly families she saw on TV and it looked like a good opportunity to have a panoramic view over the city and be closer to the sky and the twinkling stars. Contrary to popular beliefs, Naruto knew _exactly_ what he was doing. He would suggest ridiculously insane amusement rides so that Sakura and the others wouldn't agree, so they would chose the top cliché ones, meaning the most romantic, cheesy and less dangerous ones, since there were many couples wandering around ,enjoying their date, so he could totally fructify the chance to set his friend and Sakura up, taking advantage of their already scorching chemistry transpiring between them.

And it was all going according to the bulletproof plan. His wicked grin only grew tenfold when his naughty mind started to fill with steamy possible outcomes. Then he shifted his gaze to Sasuke who was openly glaring at him, probably reading his mind and grew aware of his intentions and his grin died down. Screw that smart ass observant Uchiha for spoiling his fun. Wordlessly, they followed Sakura to the suggested amusement attraction.

"I-I like the F-Ferris Wheel. Mother would b-bring Hanabi-chan, Neji-nii-san and me there, w-when we were little." Hinata told the pink haired woman absentmindedly, a small enchanting smile dancing on her plum full lips at the pleasant memory, it being among the few ones she had with her family so at peace and united.

"Then it's settled! Up to go!" And of course, Naruto wouldn't deprive the ladies of the fun, beaming of energy and pushed his fist up taking the lead once again, waltzing in front of their small group.

After paying for the tickets, they quickly observed that the structure of the elegant gondolas only had space for two people and before anyone had the chance to protest, Naruto winded a hand possessively around Hinata's shoulder and jumped in the first gondola, shouting at Sasuke and Sakura. "Sorry guys, this one is taken!"

"Clowns trying to be subtle..." Sasuke growled under his breath, knowing exactly that his friend was trying to throw Sakura into his arms, but was failing at being exquisite and insidious because he was just an idiot with too much free time at his disposal, although seeing that Sakura didn't catch what he was trying to do, probably not being the subject of a blind date before, hence lacked experience, he played along and brushed it off, getting the other upcoming gondola, following Sakura suit.

When the giant eye looking elegant started its lazy pace, bringing them higher and higher to the sky, Sakura couldn't contain her delight and Sasuke swore that her forest green eyes went a lighter shade, stealing the light of the stars above and radiating a warm inviting aura through every pore. "Oh My God, look at this scenery!" She sang like a canary, as her head was whirling in all possible directions, wide smile embellishing her angelic features. "Can we see your home from here?" She turned to question Sasuke as their gondola was almost to the peak, as it seemed to brush the velvet sky. "Yes, bring us to the stars!"

"No," The Uchiha simply answered to her, and refrained from telling Sakura something as futile and aimless as the fact that she wasn't able to see it, because his vision was on a whole new radius and foresight. "it is too far."

"Beautiful..." She said dreamy, as breathing into the energy and the beauty of the darkness around outside and full of colorful lights and twinkling stars, the lights from the city and then she looked at Sasuke, who was looking straight ahead, like he has been seeing that vista so many times before and grew unflappable to its beauty. An old man turning back to the secular oak tree, who knew his story and shared his memories.

Immediately, she got that _fluttering_ inside her belly as her jade orbs were strolling along the precise exquisite outline of his masculine jaw and chin, then shifting to the almond shaped contour of his onyx eyes, sucking in a harsh breath when her insightful vision let her perceive the movie like atmosphere of romantic silence blending into the panoramic scenery and she couldn't help but notice the way their hands were curled around the golden lap bar, sticking close to one another and she felt sparkles under her fingertips as she wanted so much to let her hand slide towards Sasuke`s and tap his knuckles with her pinky finger, but decided not to cross _that_ line and invade or abuse his privacy.

As the wheel lulled them with the lazy pace, offering them a splendid vista over the shimmering details of the park`s beaming colors and excited people, a cool wind brushed past their shoulders, making their hair flutter, making Sakura`s bare skin fill with goose bumps, as she was wearing a soft thin dress and nothing to cover her shoulders.

Sasuke cocked his head to look at his rose haired companion, who was rubbing her forearms intently, clearly shivering from the cool air blowing at that altitude and he mentally slapped himself from not noticing that she was cold and that mind blowing dress of her did nothing to protect her porcelain fragile skin from the wind.

He silently leaned backwards and let the black long coat he wore over his dark suit slide along his forearms, and wrap it around Sakura`s naked shoulders as she winced in surprise, turning her head to look at him and that has been a mindless mistake, since the breathtakingly irresistible vampire was still close to her as he folded his warm wool and cashmere coat upon her collarbone and her breath died on her throat for a nanosecond.

They entwined their gazes as his head was slightly askew, peeping at her from behind the silk veil of his haughty soft fluttering raven lock falling over his forehead and temples, not drawing back as Sakura didn't shy away either, getting tinted by a cute pink perusal that matched the elegant feminine color of her hair, dancing on the strings of the graceful wind behind her back, while keeping on looking deeply into his eyes.

She went lightheaded the moment his divine masculine perfume dashed into her nostrils, pounding on his pulse and oozing from his rebel silk hair and the warmth of his mint fanning on her chin almost made her evanesce the short distance between them and press her lips against his, seeing that their angled faces were perfectly aligned for a butterfly sweet kiss, but something held her back from doing so.

Maybe it was the overrated and totally cliché conjuncture, maybe it was because she would have given up to easy and out on a whim, or maybe she was so shy and inexperienced in how should she properly share her first kiss with that handsome stranger and not embarrass her completely or maybe she wanted a deeper transpiring scene between them than a simple ride in an amusement park.

They were not lovers on a date, he has just went on with the flow of her insistence and his friends` wishes the thing that had him come to a place he didn't want to visit, so Sakura kind of felt bad for taking advantage to the fact that Sasuke was in a susceptible position, being all sentient of his displeasure, consequently she didn't want to offer him an alternative to a thing he didn't enjoy doing, by making it better with a _meaningless_ kiss.

Hollow and vague…this is why she didn't want to lock her lips with him in that particular moment, because Sakura didn't want to offer her first kiss to an inconsequential spur of the moment, nor give up the connotation of a first lip lock for a maiden so easily, even though she knew that from that point of view, her way of thinking was old school and unfashionable, but it meant dearly to her, so she didn't care.

She dug her nails into the collar of his coat, wrapped the warm material around her petite frame trembling frame, cheeks burning like charcoals as he kept that mysterious intense look into her eyes and even if her mind was denying what he could offer, her eyes kept on marveling at the nature`s artistic display of excellence, as she was breathing in the essence of his beauty. He was so undeniable _handsome_. It was that kind of unholy and impossible perfection in forms and contours, that made him almost frightening. His gorgeous looks were scary because she couldn't place it as part as her world.

As she took her time to rack her brain for a possible explanation of the windmill of emotions twirling inside her chest, Sasuke was peeling every layer of indecision shimmering into those gorgeous eyes she was having, but he was having a mind battle of his own. There was just something that transcended human, having a mysterious ray of light gleaming around the aureate ring around her irises that kept taunting him to try and penetrate deeper to uncover the ultimate secrets lying within the labyrinth of green garnet and gold.

She wasn't _just_ a beautiful intelligent woman, she was even more than the magic of grace and elegance, it was in every gesture she made, in the way she sewed her childish shimmering **angelic innocence** into the rose kiss of womanhood entrapped into the light shade of her hair, pouring stardust of a heavenly glow around her ethereal appearance, that turned him into a powerless seeker for her **enigma**.

In fact, Sasuke didn't even realized how close he was to her, until he hasn't figure it out that the rosette was so stricken by their closeness, that she didn't realize she was holding her breath. That, until the crescent sexual tension growing between them has crumbled like broken crystal by the sudden jerk of their gondola, when the ferry _stopped_ abruptly throwing them forward due to intertia force. "Ah!" Sakura gripped the lap bar with both her hands, as her long loose hair fell into her eyes and cascaded down her shoulders, pulling apart from Sasuke and breaking their eye lock.

"What is going on? Why have we stopped?"

Sasuke didn't answer at first, because he was focused on catching the instructions of someone who was shouted at them to remain calm, because someone cut down the electricity and they would fix the problem soon. Upon catching the meaning of those words reverberating into the night and following the buzz under her feet, she started to panic. Plus, it was just their bad luck that their gondola was stuck at the highest peak. Not only the rosette was claustrophobic, but she was afraid of heights too. "Sasuke, how much time do you think they are going to take to fix it?"

"I hope not much, or bad things are going to happen to a _certain_ someone." Being stuck in a Ferris Wheel was the last of Sasuke`s concern. Meanwhile, he was busy with thinking about Naruto, who insisted on having them to go there in the very first place and then plot a very painful way to dispose of his dead body, after he boldly punched his face into oblivion, feeling his already thin patience consume as a candle.

Then he felt a light timid wrap around his forearm which made him snap from his evil plotting as he turned his head on his left shoulder to look at the petrified owner, rising a fine raven eyebrow up at her anxious looking figure. Sakura was tugging him probably out of reflex, without being conscious of what she was doing, her body language betraying how fidgety and uptight she was. Also, with his superior vision and keen eye, Sasuke could see everything and perceive every single detail, such as the cold glistening invisible roll of a drop of perspiration forming along pulse, running down her neck, her accelerated pulse, the pitch dilated pupils, the unconscious way to lean into him and scoop into his arms.

"What`s wrong?" He softly asked her, afraid she would break at the way her entire body was tense and apprehensive.

She shook her head in a messy way that Sasuke didn't quite place into any stereotype, while her bell like siren voice looked strangled, forced and deeply scared, almost bathed in tears. "I-I don't...being stuck in a place...I am claustrophobic. What if we are going to be here for hours? We can't go down on our own, not at this height, and it is not like we can _fly_ or something."

A short buzz rung inside his pocket, as Sasuke dipped his fingers down to answer to his phone. There was a childish angry message from Naruto which said _'This sucks major balls! Can you do something?'_ while Sasuke knew exactly what went through his cerulean eyed friend`s mind, for he too flirted with some possibilities of taking them out of there.

He quickly tapped back to him, while he felt tickles rubbing on his chin as Sakura leaned fully on his chest, coming to rest her temple in the hollow of his neck, as he replied to the blonde. _'Not here. There are too many people around to witness.'_

Someone was working frenetically downstairs, while people have gathered in a small crowd to look up to the gondolas, screaming soothing words to their relatives or dates, who were panicking and shouting or crying back, fidgeting in their respective seats. As three supervisors were trying to fix the mechanical problem and operate the Ferry wheel, they would occasionally cause a jerk along the rim of the wheel, hence the short violent shake of the gondolas.

For Sasuke, it was beyond annoying. For Sakura on the other hand, it was ten times more terrifying than the tour on the Haunted Mansion, because, true to Sasuke`s words, that was the real thing. The raven haired Uchiha felt her body starting to convulse and tremble beside him. She was visibly afraid and it was clearly depicted in her shaky soft hum. "S-Sasuke..."

If there was something that Sasuke absolutely loathed to see, was a lady suffering any form of torture, be it physical or mental. For him, it was the greatest _sin_ ever done to the vulnerable sex, so he didn't miss a beat when he gently, but firmly bad the apprehended rosette.

* * *

"Get up."

She whipped her head to face him puzzlement written all over her face. "What? Why?"

"Just do it." To prove it to her that he was serious and make her snap out of her shock induced haze, Sasuke lifted the lap bar up leaving them unguarded by the metal bar and that made Sakura dizzy of fright, already feeling the gravity crawling along her ankles and drag her down to free fall.

He got up, even though there wasn't enough space for him to fully stand in all the splendor of his tall height, but it was enough to make him adjust into the gondola and god only knew how was he able to keep balance without faltering or causing unnecessary motion to the capsule. "What do you want to do?" Sakura looked horrified down and then back to Sasuke who hasn't pulled a single muscle or do any revealing gesture that he was affected in any way.

"Take my hand." He stretched his hand to the oblivious emerald eyed girl, opening up his palm, inviting her to wrap her fingers around his. "Come on." She did it automatically, placing her quivering hand into his own, curling her fingers tightly around his long lean appendices, as he clasped his hand around hers, while he hoisted her up, but she wasn't as graceful as he, and the high heels she wore weren't helpful in any way. "Whoa-"

Her knees trembled and threatened to throw her forward and let her fall, but Sasuke softly twisted her wrist and brought her flush into his chest, wrapping his hands around the curb of her back, as she folded her own hands around his torso, trying to move and do clumsy gestures as less as possible. "Why are we standing?"

"We are _leaving_."

She looked into his eyes disbelief written all over. Emerald vibrant eyes were looking into his onyx ones, seeking for that moment when he would tell her that he was freaking joking and just trying to make her feel psychologically better, but found no hesitation. "W-What?! B-But we are so high and we have been instructed to remain on our seats and we are so high and there is no way we can climb down on this-"

Words froze on their way out of her parted lips as a devilish smirk grew on the corner of his mouth, as she took in the way his eyebrows shot up, ideas seemed to dancing in between the rims of his fine wrinkles. "Who said we _cannot_ fly?"

Logic and ration has overcome fright, as Sakura`s mill spun inside her mind, thinking back to the moment when she jumped off the bridge and took him with her, losing memories of what exactly happened there. Somehow, they didn't touch the water`s surface and touched the grass instead, landing safely on the bank of the river, but she couldn't remember how they did it. "You aren't serious, are you?"

"Do you want to be stuck in here instead?"

"N-No, of course not, but there are so many people around and i don't want you to-" she took a peek behind her back, summoning all her courage to look down at the squirm of agitated people visibly shaking."...I am very scared." she openly admitted, mentally cursing that feeble human weakness and fully realizing Sasuke`s strive to overcome that futile part of his previous alter ego, trading inborn dread to be on the crest of mental strength. Something she would never be able to do and in that moment, she felt like a total burden to him, coaxing and forcing him into dangerously expose his secret, in lieu of saving her ass. How _selfish_ she was.

He tightened his embrace around her, giving her a little squeeze, as his palm slide down to rest on the swell of her hipbone, assuring her that all her fears were dumbfounded and it was no problem for him to do so. "Do you trust me?" He whispered hotly into her ear, as she felt his reassurance pushed back into her every fiber, relaxing if even for a moment, trying to melt into his warm embrace.

"W-Will you drop me?"

He chuckled darkly at her predictable cliché aphorism, sexily shaking his head. He dropped down, slipping a hand under her knees and the other around her waist, scooping her up, as her hands flew around his neck, wrapping them tightly as her fingers latched into his fluttering raven spikes. "Wha! Sasuke!"

"No. I will _not_ let you fall. I promise you." She was dead scared as her brisk heart was doing flip flops down her chest. She opened her eyes to look at him once again close to her but she was too panicked to feel the foaming chemistry drizzling like expensive Champagne among them, but as the events unfold under Sasuke`s eyes in slow motion, he caught every single detail.

The satirical part of the predicament, was the fact that first, when she wanted to jump, her fate was solely in the palm of her hand to do as she pleased, upon her own free will, wanting to fall on the limbs of death, but that time, not only did she fear for her safety, but her destiny was depending entirely on Sasuke, and not on her, which was a funny ironic thing.

His tranquil demeanor was reminiscent to a gentle spring breeze and he perceived it through al his pores. "Hold me tight." He instructed and she nodded once, leaning her head on his shoulder and she tightened her grip. "What if someone sees us? You will have problems because of me-."

"Don't worry, it is too dark up here. Before someone has the chance to see us, we will be far away." She nodded once to him, burying her nose into his neck, inhaling his ravishing scent that calmed her mind and soothed her, while entrusting her life to his capable hands.

But instead of jumping like she has expected, Sasuke merely shut his onyx eyes, breathed once deep and slow, as he was doing Buddhist meditation, focusing the flow of his chakra in key parts, balancing it and drawing the exact dosage of it for the jutsu he was preparing and when he opened his orbs up, _lavender_ bright blazed back on his left eye, as his right counterpart bleed rich _red_ wine, in the familiar peculiar stellar shape. Sasuke couldn't believe that he was using _The Deva Path of_ his _Rinnegan_ for something as trivial as that, but he just couldn't see that smile wipe off Sakura`s face in a heartbeat of a malfunction of the ride. It made something clench into the coffins of his chest, evoking an unpleasant feeling of guilt at the thought of breaking his promise to keep her safe and make her happy, while she has complied with his request and allowed him to drink from his blood as much as he needed, not complaining.

That disagreeable feeling clasped in the sepulture of his heart burned him. His feet unglued from the gondola and when Sakura felt the wind splash over her face and her hair flutter like a bumble bee`s fragile jolly wings, she became even more panicked. "Oh God!" She couldn't help but exclaim, never removing her face from Sasuke`s neck, shrieking down his ear, as he was focusing to not lose the control of his chakra surging through his system.

He tightened his hold on her, somehow counting on the fact that if he did so, she would calm down and feel protected and soon they were defying gravity, floating like vivacious snowflakes dancing in the pink velvet horizon, as Sasuke was having troubles in focusing his chakra to be as swift and gentle as possible, while his dark clothes made them invisible to human eye, but he wasn't quite worried about that. "Are we there yet?"

"Open your eyes and see for yourself."

"No. I am scared. I will scream." Somehow she gathered a drop of courage to flutter her eyes open, feeling the wind making them moisten, and she looked at his profile, instead of peeping around to find themselves surrounded by the celestial curtain of the night, instead of people and buildings. Not feeling the gravity under her feet was scary she felt lighter and scared as hell. "What would you do if I scream?"

He set his eyes down to her and a little knowing smirk grew on his lips, keeping his answer silent to invite her mind to contemplate and figure the answer for herself. Jade orbs skimmed to his thin soft looking lips and it her heart missed a beat when she caught the meaning of his sinful words. He hasn't muttered a single thing, as they were continued to beat gravity on its own game, entrapped in an esoteric tango, and Sakura gulped once to alleviate a lump forming down her throat, as her eyes kept the regard they had on his lips. Focusing on the detailed sinuous contour of the outline of his thin firm lips, she couldn't help but learn that it was looking so moist, glistening, so soft and appetizing looking and so _so_ close...

She shook her head and looked away immediately, finding it extremely dangerous to remained focused on his mouth and fall prey to his seductive, cunning and sexy trap.

But the moment Sakura decided to avert her eyes from Sasuke`s raw handsomeness and concentrate –divert- to something else, she did the mistake of looking down the earth and she saw the world unfolding under her feet. As her body grew conscious of the care and security that Sasuke`s presence was providing, coating her into his sweet mantle of protectiveness, a indescribable feeling crept along her spine as an electric bolt and she couldn't believe the emotions surging through her system. "OH MY GOSH! we are FLYING!" She couldn't believe she has been so afraid by whatever might happen to her, because it was beautiful and uplifting, comparing to nothing like she has ever experienced before.

Her jadeite pools were challenging the brilliance of the sky`s chandeliers, as they were gasping at the scenery flowering under their feet, in all the splendor of its shining colorful rainbows of lights, as if the energy and vitality of the never sleeping people was rising like a fine veil of fog towards the sky, tinkling their skin. There was nothing to rival the feeling of being light like lustrous fireflies dancing into the twilight, they were like clouds floating unperturbed in the embrace of infinity, and Sasuke was actually so gentle, delicate and his grace was blending with the elegance of the moon above. Trapped in the maze of the splendid conceptualization of a theory as ancient as the people`s dream to grow a pair of wings and be free, she failed to see Sasuke`s breathing becoming more and more alert and sharp, but the onyx eyed vampire was glad she didn't, because she looked enchanted, calm and less scared and that was exactly what he wanted.

Inwardly, he was having conflicted thoughts and a hard deal, because he has only used that new technique once since the revelation of the new powers rooting inside his ocular bloodline limit inheritance, yet he has ventured to use it in such an inappropriate desperate context, but he didn't see any other inconspicuous way out, yet he was aware of the fact that the first time he tried levitation on, he couldn't keep it for too long.

However, failing was out of question, because not only it would make them crush and blow up his cover exposing his identity, but he would endanger Sakura`s life as well and he didn't know what option was more terrifying. Brushing off the negative –realistic- thoughts out of his mind, he focused the last remain of chakra, which was rapidly going down the hill, catching the sight of an empty spot at the end of the parking lot where only some druggies were loitering around, completely dead to the world and getting high, lost in their world and some heavy make out sessions going on not far from the aforementioned gang, so he decided to land there. He felt his chakra flow waver but he managed to keep it balanced somehow, trying not to shake to much as they were approaching the ground.

"Are y-you ok?" They were slowly going down and Sakura`s empty stomach sank and got queasy in the same manner as when riding an elevator, but she put that on the a rack in the back of her head, because the moment she caught the way his eyebrows furrowed ever so softly, his forehead wrinkle, temples moisten with cold shivers of perspiration and lips slightly opened, worry nested into the golden cage of her pumping heart. "Sasuke?"

"Almost there." His voice was steady and silk smooth, divulging nothing of what he truly felt inside, however she brushed a fallen raven lock off his temple, where a tiny fine vein popping up, as an indomitable proof that he was focusing with all his might on something, and she suddenly felt guilty for creating havoc and force him into doing something that cost him a lot of energy. She bit her lower lip as Sasuke landed gracefully like a feather rolling down the sky, he gently bent down to let her legs slip from under his hands and touch the ground, steadying her.

Immediately, Sakura wrapped her right hand around his lean protruding shoulders, and the other fell on his chest, tugging at his shirt, while her heels did a soft click on the concrete, but out of reflex, she didn't let go of him and Sasuke did nothing to stop her from clinging to him either and once again she transgressed the barrier and stepped into his bubble, taking the chance to peep at his face and see his shoulders and stance relax all the while his eyes returned to the obsidian color. "This was insane!"

She the noticed how far from the amusement park they were, taking a look around to see an almost deserted parking lot, filled with cars of all types and some creeps wandering around minding their own business. "Sasuke, how did you do that? What was that?" He looked down at her, not responding to her question and she understood that it wasn't because he was trying to be impolite, but because it was probably an entire theory and history behind it and they were running out of time, but she couldn't help the tickles she got along her limbs and spine while he had a lazy mild grip around her waist, faces scooping so close to each other, eyes locked.

Should she kiss him? He was breathtakingly beautiful and what has just happened between them has not only been surreal, but extremely intimate and romantic as well, in a way she couldn't explain simply because her lips were not talking the language of her heart.

* * *

"Let's get back, shall we?" Sasuke breathed upon her face, letting her get intoxicated by his smell and breath fanning over her lips, he too wanted to kiss her but decided against it, since forcing himself on a woman was not elegant and reverential, so he let her decide the course of events and see what she wished for. Lead by the irresistible fascination she had for his entire being, Sakura arched her neck to come closer to him, but didn't press her lips on his. There was something that kept on preventing her to do it, constantly screaming at her that there was going to be a moment in their history when all the hesitation she felt would fly on the window as she wouldn't have any reticence to succumb into the yearning of her heart.

"Yes." They stayed entrapped into that moment for ten more seconds, until they heard a loud vicious gang passing them by, and it as in that moment when Sasuke`s hands fell from around her waist, slipping one into his picket, the other ruffling his rebel midnight hair, turning around to the rose haired woman, coaxing her into followed him back to the amusement park.

She quickly fell into steps with the Uchiha, who set up a lazy pace, mindful of the uncomfortable heels she wore, walking side by side and she wrapped his coat around her frame crossing her hands upon her chest, relishing into his smile and the warmth his cloth was providing. It felt like an incomplete _date_ , she was...her heart was beating faster she was at the park, they had a stroll pace, crossing the parking lot, people, lights candles colors, happiness all around it was contagious.

But mostly... _him_. Without having any idea of what has come to her, Sakura started to smile uncontrollably like she has been hit by a Cupid`s arrow, getting poisoned with euphoria, she didn't know why her heart was fluttering like a restless bird striving to abandon its nest and claim its place on the infinite azurite sky, while her stomach was filled with a squirm of bees, making her innards waver and tremble and she felt like there was still no ground under her feet, even though her feet perceived the harshness of the abrasive concrete scraping under her slim heels. "What are you thinking about?"

"This feels like a dream. I don't want to wake up. I am afraid I will not like what I am going to see. I have been dreaming of this moment." As both of them made it back into the middle of the joyful beaming happy frenetic people, Sakura lifted her shimmering jadeite eyes to look at the multitude of crazy, intricate, inventive inviting rides and the jumping around bouncing couples. In the corner of her delighted dreamy orbs, she saw a flicker of a bright blazing pure red and sparkling golden, turning her head in the direction of the elegant fancy carousel.

"Can we ride that one?" She inquired, pointed her finger into the direction of it, while Sasuke followed her line of vision, narrowing his eyes, as it triggered an immixture of memories, embellished with a lots of feelings belonging to his childhood days. "Please. I know you feel uncomfortable, but we can leave right after that, I promise."

She shouldn't beg like that, Sasuke mentally added, for it was no big deal, and it was not that she has asked for anything scurrilous, outrageous or unattainable. He was used to impromptu occurrences in his life and he was used to do things he didn't like, plus, he didn't mind riding the Carousel with Sakura, it didn't bother him.

In fact, his legs robotically followed her where she was leading him, as her vivacious unique eyes that belonged to the forest raindrops and gold, her lyric smile, her empyreal bright aura has spell bounded him into bending to her coy simple request, as he nodded once following her. The rosette bloomed and smiled even wider, thanking him with those eyes that drowned him into her ocean of perennial adolescent jubilance and sensual womanhood, and for the first time in forever, his heart stopped beating for a nanosecond.

"Thank you!" She unconsciously gripped the hem of his sleeve, and dragged him after her, joggling all the way there. She was so beautiful in her childish **angelic nonchalance** and exuberance, dressed in a dress so light like her body was made of air and stardust, so feather like and fine, and his coat around her looked like a waterproof mark of his _claim_ over her.

Sasuke bought them two tickets and stepped on the platform, waiting for Sakura to choose one of the proud gallant looking pony and he smirked when she gloated in exhilaration as she went straight for a pink horse, in the same shade as her avant garde hue of her floral long hair, while Sasuke took the dark one beside her, finding the subtle semblance something that would make his friend Hyuga Neji`s indomitable theory of destiny`s diligent mastery stand the test of time and logic.

Sakura carefully climb on it, side-saddling, since she was clad in a short dress that did little to conceal the modesty of her long slim gazelle legs and eagerly curled her fingers around the drop rod, smiling down at Sasuke, who simply leaned against the horse, in a similar stance as her, but more relaxed, having one hand wrapped around the rod, and the other resting into his pocket.

When they started to move, she started to giggle like a cherub taking his first journey on the puffy clouds, as the horse bobbled up and down, and since the pace was smooth and was slow and she could enjoy it to the maximum. Emerald delighted orbs stroll on the vivacious bright red and golden lights that embellished the elegant, velvet and glassy decorations, which all stole her breath away, there were mirrors and millions of colors reflecting the polished platform, that was glowing heavenly and the soft piano elegant music was creating a very retro romantic atmosphere.

Riding the carousel has always been part of a young girl`s arsenal, going back into the days where she would imagine herself exploiting the iconic panorama of the princess within her, exploring the fascinating world of symbolic childhood mementos, it being one of them. There were also many couples and enchanted pairs among the children and families, surrounding them and riding the carousel and Sakura fructified that chance to turned and stole a glance of Sasuke.

And he was, in fact, looking back to her, catching an chaste manifestation of a bright angelic smile, gleaming of exhilaration, joy emotion and gratitude. The elegant Carousel ride took him back into his childhood days, when his mom would bring him here and it was one of the last memories he had with his grandmother, before she moved from the city and retired to the countryside. Those were light and warm memories, filled with laughter and love and actually a particular memory danced within its mind, of an angelic Mikoto instructing him to bring his _girlfriend_ here because riding carousels was something special, a fine veil between a fairytale love and reality.

And surprisingly enough Sakura was the first girl he brought there. Not his fiancé and not any other woman. His one soon to be spouse didn't enjoy carousels or amusement parks at all. She was crazy like the dobe, riding rollercoasters, he personality was vocal and boisterous. Totally unlike Sakura`s, who was a delicate ray of light, shyer, quieter, fragile celestial as a phantom of the wind.

Amidst the bright bell laughters, nocturne lights glowing around the touch of her beautiful hypnotizing smile, she was glowing brighter than all of the and outshined any tender sight of the overflowing happiness around, with the touch of innocence entrapped in every twinkle of her emerald orbs, as she turned in every possible direction, probably living inside her own reprimanded fairytale. And the way she shied away from his amused stare, as he totally caught her trying to catch a quick glance to him, blushing like a cherry blossom petal was extremely cute.

"I always wondered whether I would try to reach for a golden ring, if I were to ride the carousel." She didn't need to face him because Sakura knew that Sasuke was listening to her. "Am I another version of Phoebe?" Seeing that he didn't answer back, she turned her hear over her shoulder to face him, and he blinked once, making her confused and wonder whether he understood her.

"Have you read The Catcher in The Rye? I was blabbering about the-"

He cut her short, definitely getting the deeper implication of her poetic train of thoughts. His father has inflicted heavy education on him ever since he was an infant, so naturally he has read all the most representative books in literature, but the reason why Sasuke took so much to respond was due to the fact that he was busy looking at the way she stretched her hand towards the sky, looking like a swan bathing in the moonlight. "There is a Phoebe in all of us, when we came of age." He referred to the moment when all grow up and leave the age of innocence behind. His mind quickly did the parallel with the theme and the emblematic elements in the book. The _Carousel_ was meant to be the symbolism of  childhood, innocence and protection from the misery world of corrupted adults, while trying to reach dreams of growing up.

"I sometimes wish I didn't grow up." But there was another secluded meaning to the scene, which Sasuke was of course aware of it, coming to realize that Sakura didn't chose that particular book to engage him into a lyrical elevated conversation at random. During that scene, Holden, the main character, had the epiphany that he has been **happy** for the first time in his life, while witnessing the eternal innocence dancing around Phoebe`s character, as she was enjoying her carousel ride.

"Are you Holden, or Phoebe, Sakura?" Sasuke cryptically and smartly inquired, as he meant the kid or the adult who has discovered happiness, being emotionally washed by the image of a child reaching to her ideal and accomplish her dreams.

"Now, or in general?"

"The scene is symbolic and spontaneous." Sasuke cocked his head, just enough to let the longer strands of his midnight bangs fall along the outline of his sculpted fine his face. He unglued his tall frame from his horse and approached her, going behind her back as his hand encircled her shoulders, coming to coil around the rod, just above her own much smaller ones. There were many other couples who mirrored their stance, or simply held hands as they would ride beside one another and Sakura`s heart skyrocketed to Mars and back, at the speed of light. "You can't stop a child from growing up. Holden eventually realized it."

And by growing up, Sasuke meant _both_ vampire and humans, as not even immortals could cheat on time and trick it into staying juvenile for eternity. "So it means you won't stop me if I were to try?" The dream, the ideal, the growing up were all symbols perfectly highlighted through the lines of the emblematic scene in the book, and Sakura actually saw people trying to get the golden ring and some even fell off the ponies, making the witnessing people laughed hard at their feeble attempt and she giggled along.

Sasuke leaned forward to whisper into the spiral of her ear shell, parting her hair on her side to cascade on her shoulder. "No. But I will make sure you will _not_ fall." The words portrayed the notion of insurance, guardianship and shelter and Sakura couldn't help but blush at his velvet statement. He was so close to her that she could smell his ocean forest and fire scent, see his eyes as the onyx color glowed in the twinkling red and golden lights dancing around them, while the carousel rode its elegant pace, and Sakura found them playful, intriguing, inviting and _tender_.

"But Holden said that there is no problem in falling, because a child still must be left alone to try and grab it."

"Then don't fall." Sasuke simply advised, but the deeper meaning waved along the lines of taking care and never sway or falter from her purpose and dreams and fight for it with all her might, even acknowledging the risk of failing. "He eventually changed."

"Fine. Then watch me winning us a free ride then." She accepted his challenge and agreed to strive and see her dream unraveled before her eyes someday, so she stretched her hand when she was on the moment of grabbing the golden ring and Sasuke couldn't believe that he thought of her in a poetical, artistically way, as his mind flapped the scene of the book and made it transpiring in real life.

Some of the couples were trying to get the golden ring for fun, some were looking adamant, but Sakura had something that went beyond their ambitions, as her hand was so slim, graceful, her fingers danced in the silk nocturne starry sky, and when she brushed the golden band, the ring fell along two of her fingers. People and mostly children cheered and clapped at her, witnessing the scene of the beautiful pink haired lady taking the ring.

"I did it!" She turned to beam and flail at Sasuke, pushing her spread opened palm under his nose, while he smirked at her jovial childish behavior, but she looked so happy without even trying.

"Congratulations…for growing up." He playfully taunted her.

Was that an unadulterated manifestation of happiness that bloomrd into her heart? In the labyrinth of vivacious colors, spontaneous laughters, loving mothers with children, carefree families and cheesy couples, Sakura forgot entirely about Naruto and Hinata. In fact, she has forgotten her goddamned name, but she had Sasuke`s visage and words imprinted into her mind.

"Will you _ride_ with me again?" Her nightingale suave voice tickled Sasuke`s ears, and he nodded once to her. Being all busy with living the span of the moment like it was the last spur of glee in her life, Sakura failed to realize the innuendo in her words, but Sasuke definitely caught it, though he was sentient of the innocence and purity churning into the depths of her artistic mind. Any other woman would have automatically thought of fucking him. But not her and that only drawn him into being more and more fascinated by her.

And that was why his answer has been silk and steadfast. "Yes."

Sakura didn't turn to face him again, but there was no way that Sasuke could miss the coy smile that was definitely distinctive for the one she had so far, blessing her lips, and he was almost tempted to smile himself at the way she inconspicuously and almost undetectably leaned her head on his stretched arm.

Heavens, if someone was to see him entrapped in that moment…

When the Carousel stopped, they wordlessly got off and Sasuke followed a jolly Sakura to exchange her ring for another ticket, being on the verge of tapping his pocket, take away his wallet and pay for an additional one for himself, when he caught the sight of a rooted in place jadeite eyed vivacious woman, following her line of vision to see whatever was she looking at so intently, his gaze softening right on the spot, ever so briefly. Sakura was gazing at a beggar _child_ , and the little dirty image of the petite fragile looking girl, with golden curls cascading down her ruffled clothes, alone and looking longingly at the carousel, broke the rosette`s heart in half, as the image of a past self, strike her mind.

Her steps didn't miss a beat as she wordlessly approached the girl who in return turned to look at the mysterious slim shadow spanning at her feet and Sakura _offered_ the ring to her so she could take the free ride, adding a honest small smile and a nod to go along with her gift. The girl bowed to her courtly, baby blue azurite big eyes twinkling with tears of joy.

Sakura`s eyes trailed to the delighted impatient girl as she took her ticket and jumped on the same pink horse that Sakura rode a minute ago, while she came to rest beside Sasuke. He on the other hand, couldn't believe the spontaneous and unaltered kindness of her heart, being similar to the exhilarating rich feeling of watching pure gold taking the shape of a fine piece of jewelry. She was _so_ different from his selfish former fiancé. So. goddamn.  different. She wasn't doing anything to impress another one, it was all so natural, candid and perfunctory.

"You made someone _happy_." He smirked down at her, while inwardly Sasuke added one more truth and that was that she was also making _him_ happy, as well as that girl. Sakura turned on her heel and smiled to him, all the while her emerald orbs got even more glowing.

They stood like that, entrapped into each other`s presence, as random joyful unconcerned people passed them by, and everything went as natural as a mountain spring. Sasuke brought his hand on the level of her face, while he brushed a fallen lock of hair with the tip of his index finger, breathing in every single detail that crayoned a mesmerizing image of a beautiful beyond words woman, starting from the contrast of her glowing margarite smooth skin with the red dress, in the forbidden color of sumptuous wine and his long dark coat, her exotic features were being highlighted to the swell of madness.

 **Beautiful.** She was beautiful like an angel, a bell flower and graceful like a swan.

Sakura`s breath halt on the journey to her chest when she felt Sasuke`s petal silk suave touch on her face. He was so gentle, a ray of light falling on her check, he was brushing his thumb on the outline of her rosy cheek and the heart shaped contour of her upper lip, the atmosphere was light, jolly, idyllic and romantic, his hand was so fine, so warm and he was so irresistible handsome. They slowly leaned forward, time freezing in the dusty pendulum, swings forgetting how to count down seconds, chins angling and aligning to mold perfectly, already being very close.

Their breaths fused in the span of lust, chemistry, want, need and desire. Sasuke sprawled his lean fingers along the outline of her jaw, cupping her cheek, tenderly, having the grace of a mother tending her newborn, and she half shut her eyes, senses going haywire, feeling everything, anticipating and wanting.

 _That_ was the moment she has waited for, that was the breath she has looked forward to feel spill on her upper lip, she could smell his scent, she perceived his alluring indomitable strength, grace, finesse and masculinity overwhelming her, she got electrically charged by the bolts of chemistry lingering around them, she felt tingles on her lips, her heart has stopped breathing as she almost felt the brush of his own lips against her, one more heartbeat and she would kiss him and he would give her the kiss she has been dreaming of-

"Busted!"

* * *

They pulled back like lightening has stricken between their _almost_ touching mouths and touching foreheads, as Naruto's obnoxious intrusive howl cut their hearing and made Sakura almost jump, startled.

God, someone fucking put a sharp object –preferably a scythe or a really sharp blade- into his reeking hand so Sasuke could promptly and literarily take the scalp of that motherfuking imbecile dobe, who had the worst timing ever!

"Ah!" While Sakura was busy feeling her heart jump out of her chest, Sasuke was busy putting holes into Naruto`s skull and the sinister murderous doom glared he got from Sasuke was enough to haunt Naruto`s dreams for the upcoming two days. Seriously, the contorted way of his handsome features were so maleficent looking that the cerulean eyed half vampire had no doubt that if there wasn't anyone around beside the two of them to witness the things transpiring between them, Sasuke would have slit his throat in less than a blink of an eye.

"Are you out of your damn mind, Naruto?" Oh, the way he basically hissed the words in Naruto`s face, like a venom spilling snake fixing its prey and planning to neutralize it before eating it entirely, had the blonde wink even more. If anything, he would be damned if he was scared by the Uchiha`s glares or his lethal killer aura. So many decades spent in his proximity and skills to rival his own, left him immune to that, taking him to the other extreme where, the more brooding and bloody murderous Sasuke was, the more entertaining for Naruto it got.

Except from totally RUINING his chance to finally kiss Sakura as he itched to do ever since he first lied his eyes on her and had her in his arms, there was another thing that made Sasuke go crazy, namely the obvious way that brought Naruto exactly where they were, popping up out of nowhere in the middle of a freaking mass of people.

Was he high or that crack nuts?

That uber knucklehead who was in for a good beating, has used his father`s infamous _Flying Thunder God Technique_ to teleport both Hinata and him to whatever place that Sasuke was, which wouldn't have bothered him that much, if he didn't freaking use it in a _public_ packed place like an amusement park. He threw a quick glance around, to make sure that no one important has seen him, and, except from some kids and elders, no one particularly paid attention to him since they were looking at the rides absentmindedly.

He inwardly sighed and racked a hand through his hair, trying to calm down his raging bubbling nerves. One day, he would punch the idiot`s face so hard, that he would send him flying to the moon and stay there for eternity.

Of course, the blond didn't even bat an eyelash or pulled a single muscle, completely uncaring and unconcerned about the trouble and havoc he might have caused, resuming in taunting Sasuke for making a move on the girl. "You ditched us to go on a date, didn't ya?" he pointed his finger accusingly to the pair, having the time of his life. "How did you two got off the wheel?"

"None of your damn business."

Naruto's grin went even wider, guessing that he used one ridiculously flashy signature move to impress Sakura, though he couldn't quite pinpoint what exactly, since he kept his eyes on their gondola and from what he has seen, Sasuke didn't use _Sussano`o_ to fly, as he would have anticipated, because the peculiar purple halo of light hasn't beamed, meaning he used another technique. "You are such a bastard. Did we interrupt _something_?" He winked to a red beat Sakura, who prayed for someone to stop the blonde.

"Wipe that idiotic look on your face off, dobe or I am going to do it myself."

Naruto still couldn't believe his eyes that Sasuke was actually trying to kiss Sakura and out on his own free will, without being drunk. It was too surreal to be true. For his friend to be willing to give _love_ a another chance, was something that the cerulean eyed Uzumaki prayed for and Sakura was, in his opinion, the perfect candidate. She was sweet, but shrewd, shy, but intuitive and wise, cute, but extremely beautiful and she probably had a kind heart similar to his girlfriend. Hinata took her hand and tugged her on her side, while Sasuke was busy scolding Naruto for not being cautious, risking so much to expose them. "D-Do you l-like ice cream?"

It was in the moment Sakura heard Hinata asking her that, did she remembered she set her mind on buying some ice cream if she got the chance to visit and amusement park, but, not surprisingly, everything faded ni the distance when in the company of Sasuke. "Yes! I want a big one with chocolate, caramel and a lot of white chocolate drizzle."

Hinata nodded in agreement, applauding her choice of flavor and smiled to the rosette, vaguely hearing Sasuke still growling at the blonde haired Uzumaki things that came pretty close to insults, but probably forced vulgarities back since they were not alone and in their company. It was funny to witness them, even for her. "I like c-chocolate and p-pistachio." She declared, already having in mind the image of a big ice cream to sweeten her day. Hinata loved ice cream, just like Ino, they were addicts and finding another partisan to add to their group, was not something bad at all. "N-Naruto-kun," said boy whipped his head on his side, hearing the soprano jingle of his girlfriend, grinning at her, while totally leaving Sasuke blabber. "l-let`s b-buy ice-cream."

"It's a deal!" That was a delighted gourmand and Sasuke promptly rolled his eyes at the totally cautious less blonde Uzumaki not believing his eyes how oblivious could he be. Countless of times, Sasuke had to cover for Naruto and Heaven knew how did they manage to not expose the fact that they were not human. "C`mon Teme, you can brood and bitch while we walk."

"I swear I will murder you sometime."

"On his retarded emo language," Naruto encircled both Hinata and Sakura`s shoulder, while chuckling to Sakura. "it means he _loves_ me." Laughter filled their mouths at Naruto`s confession, because the blonde didn't hold back to call the infamous Uchiha Sasuke names, like he deemed fit, while Sasuke only deepened the glare he was shooting Naruto`s skull with, with no effect. And he _ruined_ his kiss with Sakura. He wanted to strangle the blonde.

It didn't take long to spot a pretty fancy French white and blue cart loaded with appetizing ice cream assortments. Sasuke and Naruto joined the long line, while the girls poked their heads through the other customers to decide which flavor would they like to have, all looking mouthwatering and extremely inviting. And when a woman decides for ice cream, it takes her just as long as to choose the favorite pair of shoes.

"I am keeping an eye on you, Bastard." Naruto groaned at him while keeping an eye on Hinata and Sakura, who seemed to have burst into an animated philosophical conversation about chocolate and vanilla. Good God, Shikamaru was right, women were scary and weird sometimes.

Sasuke shot an eyebrow up to assess the wannabe threat coming from his friend, finding it funny how the dobe was protecting Sakura from him, probably thinking that he would jump on her neck and leave her dry and dead. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You know very well what." Said Uzumaki dug his hand into his pocket and popped up a small transparent bottle with red oval pills and threw one into his mouth. "If you are honest about her, then I will cheer for you. But if your intentions are dirty, I will beat up your ass."

"You do realize that I can go on without any, for more than two months, right?"

"I know better than to assume anything about you, Sasuke. You hardly fall into any category, since you are not a stereotype." There was no visible amused or goofy fragment present into his voice, Naruto was dead serious and it was a posture that totally didn't suit him. "And neither is she."

"I am aware of that."

Meanwhile, Hinata whispered to Sakura while looking at assortments. "S-Sasuke-kun s-swore he w-would never ride the c-carousel with a-anyone, b-beside his mother. H-He didn't e-even took his f-fiancé there."

Astonishment nourished Sakura`s disbelief, jade gleaming eyes going wide as saucers, upon hearing Hinata`s confession. "No way! But why? I assume is not because he is scared, is he?"

It was not that Sasuke was truly an unemotional jerk, with an aversion for social contact or an anxious disorder, he being sociable with the ones who deserved his attention, being really selective in the people he allowed in his circle and that was the reason why he was laid back and hardly trusted the others without knowing them first.

Even though Naruto barely forced two words out of his mind, trying to beat him to a pulp into telling his friends the exact reason why he was so adamant in not taking his girlfriend on a tour in the amusement park, especially the acclaimed traditional romantic Carousel, but he couldn't tell for sure whether Sasuke simply found it juvenile, inconsequential and stale, or because Mikoto used to take him and his brother there, so he didn't want to _taint_ the image of innocence he had in his mind, as a recollected memory of his childhood days. "I-I don't know. M-My guesses are t-that he w-wants to preserve the image o-of untouched innocence. I-I don't know a-about his future b-bride though." Even if she could detect Hinata`s attempt to taunt her a bit, Sakura felt her heart miss a beat –a thing that was very frequent while in the presence of Sasuke and honestly she had no idea how to deal with that floral flow of events.

"I didn't know. And there I was, asking him whether he would ride with me again. I won a golden ring, but gave it to a beggar kid." Hinata was stunned and her lilac pearl crystal eyes bloomed wide like the ring of the fool moon. Sasuke was willing to ride the Carousel _again_? Well, it was not that hard to envision his attraction towards the rosette, since she was the iconic image of innocence and Hinata had a sudden epiphany. Since Sasuke was pure himself, in terms of uncorrupted ambitions and humanitarian dreams, he was most likely naturally attracted to a honest counterpart, which was Sakura.

And she has snatched a well-known ring during her Carousel ride…a golden **ring**...with multiple meanings and parallel possibilities. She couldn't help but inwardly flail and squeal. Ino would adore that hot piece of gossip and she would definitely land destiny a hand and help them work things out, in her own fashionable way.

"I-I was never a-able to grab a g-golden ring. Naruto-kun t-took one for me. H-His hand is longer." They laughed heartedly while envisioning a foxy boisterous energetically Naruto, struggling to get his hands on a golden ring. When asked what assortment of ice cream they would like, the two girls had almost the same flavors on their lips, all leading to a lot of chocolate! Because they were ladies and chocolate was their sworn sister and best friend.

Meanwhile, Naruto was doing a very good job in annoying the living daylights out of Sasuke, who mentally listed all the subtle ways he had under his sleeve to bloody murder the blabbering idiot, in a way that wouldn't cause havoc or attract unwanted attention, fighting the itch to slap his nape just to see him choke on his spit. Maybe he would die of suffocation. "Good. Cos if you hurt her, I will shove that all ice cream cart down your throat." Naruto on the other hand, was having fun giving his raven haired brooding emo friend a fatherly talk, regarding how to properly woo a lady, plus he knew that Sasuke loathed ice cream or any desserts for the matter, which only doubled his fun. "And then tell Ino and Ten Ten that you disrespected a lady. They will castrate you." There was a slightly horrified look on the Uchiha`s face and Naruto cackled at him, knowing it all too well that Sasuke`s distress was justifiable, since Ten Ten and Ino would do it without batting an eyelash, be it Uchiha heir or not.

A wide ass grin rose on his goofy tanned face as he followed the silhouettes of Hinata and Sakura coming their way, both having their respective huge ice creams, as they both stuffed their cones with all possible chocolate assortments. A quick peek at his onyx eyed Uchiha friend almost sent him into hysterics. Sasuke felt sick and he definitely had a suggestive digested expression on his face.

How could someone shove those things down their throats, was beyond his level of understanding. Eating sugar was already disgusting enough, but eating frozen sugar was completely irrelevant, pointless and imbecile. Nonetheless, all his revolt against the world of sweets left his mind, the moment Sakura started to eat her own bloody ice cream, following the way her rosy tongue slowly whirled around the rim of the cone, licking the melting ice cream so that it won't leak down, coming from the base to the top of it, bobbling her lips down on a chocolate ball, suckling on it. He couldn't believe that Sakura could turn such a guilt-free activity as eating ice cream, into something erotica that had him gulp once, feeling his all muscles tense and blood amass in places it shouldn't. He turned to look at his blonde friend, who was having a knowing grin on his face, totally catching the way his friend was salivating at the innocent jolly Sakura and her peculiar way of enjoying her dessert, arms crossed upon his broad chest and Sasuke could feel it in his demeanor that Naruto was mentally cracking up, laughing his ass out at him.

A deep death scowl appeared on Sasuke`s face, seeing that Naruto had the audacity to wink at him, having a telepathic conversation between men`s secret language, about the wonders that women could do to lure them men ,without doing anything explicit. Sasuke decided on the spot that the idiot would soon be dead. "This is better than I thought!" Sakura jubilated yowling like a kid, as she and Hinata exchanged cones to tasted from each other`s ice creams.

It was Sasuke`s turn to smirk knowingly at the way Naruto`s face drawn of all the color, being suddenly paler than a wall in an insane asylum. While the azure eyed Uzumaki had his fair share of perverseness in him, he was nowhere imaginative and naughty as Sasuke, but seeing the exchange of…ice cream, between the girls made his head spin.

"C-Can we r-ride the tea cups?" Hinata found herself suggesting, not in the mood to call it a day and go home, because despite the unpleasant incident with a broken Ferry Wheel –they still didn't fix it- she was having fun along her boyfriend, her childhood Uchiha friend and the newest member of their group, Sakura.

Oh, wasn't life sweet?

Naruto didn't miss a beat totally snatching the opportunity to have fun, spending quality time with his lover and new friend, Sakura, glee like an delighted idiot without a care in the world and, not to mention, laugh at the way they were basically forcing someone like Uchiha Sasuke in all sorts of blinding colorful childish and dumb rides. Entertainment at its finest, he was contemplating the idea of taking photos just for the heck of blackmail. "Sure!"

Sakura`s jadeite orbs landed on the said tea cups and she quite liked the idea. They were cute and not dangerous and not to mention feminine and elegant. Sasuke on the other hand, had an indecipherable expression on his face and inwardly all the other three laughed at him because they figured he wouldn't like to be caught dead –twice- riding tea cups in an amusement park. Seriously, not even his childhood friend could decrypt the way his onyx orbs were flaming like burning charcoals, while his face had a sinister tranquility and unperturbed disdain for the poor tea cups.

His guesses were that Sasuke was mentally cursing them all to Hell and back.

* * *

"Ladies, if you would be so kind to choose a color." As Hinata and Sakura contemplated and pointed their fingers on the motionless cups, beaming of all the colors of the rainbow, Naruto prayed they would choose the most girly one. And when they turned to exclaim their chose of color –a hysterical bright flashing pink, with white and red decorations on the rim- Naruto threw his head back and burst out in a vicious mad laughter, while Sasuke simply couldn't stop himself. He kicked Naruto`s ribs once, not so gentle, but he was subtle enough so that he wouldn't make a fool of himself, making the blonde choke on his own spit, which was even better because on their way to the horrendous and outrageous should be banned from existence tea cups, the idiot has bought himself a hot dog and loaded it with mustard and ketchup, which was half spread around his mouth and nose. God was he a major imbecile.

Quickly paying for the tickets, the group got into the pink cup, much to Sasuke`s horror, sitting in circle with the girls safely seated in between Sasuke and Naruto. The moment they started to spin and whirl around, Sakura and Hinata already had grins beaming like the moon above.

Naruto on the other hand glued his amused cerulean orbs on his friend who looked like he would rather be somewhere else, throwing weary glances around, probably praying for no one to recognize him.

His apparently long time practice self-control and stoicism only lasted until the moment he spotted his freaking older _brother_ riding a purple one with his fiancé.

Naruto followed his line of vision, seeing that his onyx eyed friend had a consternated pissed off expression on his face, guessing it was probably some good material and promptly dropped his jaw. "Oh my fucking-"

"-Don't even think about it." Sasuke warned him, making a form of a sinister growl at the back of his throat, cutting him short and his menacing baritone voice was enough to silence Naruto up for good, preventing him from howling at Itachi and make their presence known.

He sunk into the cup, leaning backwards, as much as his high stature would allow it, and placed a hand on his forehead. If Itachi that bloody taunting weasel saw him ride the tea cups in an amusement park, in the vicinity of Sakura from all the people, he will never hear the end of his mockeries. Never! That damned weasel was vicious and vindictive, plus he loved to mock his younger brother to no end. Good thing he was busy sucking faces with his fiancé, totally blind at whatever happened around them.

Sakura, seeing the odd behavior of Sasuke and Naruto`s failing attempts to stifle his cackles, turned to inquire the reason of the awkward thick atmosphere. "What? What are you guys looking at?"

"Nothing."

"Sasuke-Teme's cool brother is riding the tea cups with his fiancé." Naruto said in the same time, making the rosette`s forest green orbs shimmer.

"Really?" She shifted her eyes from Naruto to the other cups, trying to pinpoint the man that looked two drops like Sasuke and his beautiful fiancé. "Where?" Her scouting eyes were gyroscopes, studying each and every cup, while Hinata quickly spotted them and pointed her finger in said direction, to let Sakura know of their whereabouts.

"T-There. The purple one."

"Oh?" She turned to look at Sasuke, since the man was cuddling with the beautiful lady and she couldn't help but notice how look alike they were, but Itachi looked more of a retro aristocratic beauty while Sasuke was the stunning type who caught the eye and made heads turn. "He is so much like you!"

"He is another species of a nitwit bonehead, like this blonde one and secretly has the mental age of a three years old. Damn sweets obsessed freak..." Sasuke continued to muttered some more obscenities and Sakura couldn't help but giggle along Hinata and Naruto. He was brooding to slits but there was no hate in his words, only a brotherly bicker and most likely rivalry. Yup, relatives could be embarrassing.

Seeing that Naruto wanted to wave his hands at them just to taunt Sasuke, the Uchiha shot to him, in a way that had them all cower and wince. "If you flutter that hand, Uzumaki, you are going to lose it." And his was talking about his dominant one, as the Uzumaki quickly caught his implication-the **right** one. The symbol of yang, of the child of the sun.

"Oi, stop being so anti-social. you make us look bad and scare the kids."

As if on cue, from the honking golden huge teapot swirling in the middle of the cups, soap bubbles of all the imaginable gleaming colorful blew over the cups, enchanting the others, especially the kids, and Hinata and Sakura couldn't help but stretch their hands towards the sky to catch some in their palms.

Sasuke decided right on the spot that he wanted down and an aspirin.

Seven minutes. Seven _fucking_ minutes of torture and Sasuke was the first to shot up from that atrocious...pink cup tea, grabbing Sakura`s hand and making Hinata and Naruto dash behind him, struggling to follow his large strides. He stopped only when he decided that he was at a safe distance from whatever possible dreadful encounter with Itachi and Konan. "What the hell Teme? We could have greeted Itachi and Konan-chan, ya know?"

"I would rather not." Konan was talkative feminist and a defender of the recognition of equal rights between sexes in a patriarchal society and protective soul by nature and his brother was mocking him and treat him like a kid, even though he was hardly a proud embodiment of innocence and juvenility.

Sakura on the other hand was crimson red laughing, enjoying the feeling of his warm soft hand enlaced with her own, finding it funny how Sasuke, even though he was a vampire, was having reminiscent figments of a normal mortal side, such as making a run for it when stumbling upon a relative. she was looking at their intertwining fingers, seeing that he hasn't let her go, as if it was a silent comfortable mutual agreement. Hinata caught it too, and tucked Naruto's sleeve in order to discreetly let him know about their silent trust. He grinned and nodded once, liking where that was going and the inborn unconscious responses of their bodies, while in each other`s presence.

"So? What's next?" Naruto beamed with energy like he was on high sugar rush, for he wanted to try the rollercoaster.

Hinata on the other hand spoke Sakura`s mind. "I-It is g-getting l-late. I suggest w-we call it a day."

"Yes. I am tired."

Oh FINALLY! It was everything that washed Sasuke`s mind and he didn't even give Naruto the chance to protest. "Let`s go." He wasted no more time in whirling Sakura`s wrist and taking her with him, as Naruto slipped a hand around Naruto`s, following Sasuke and Sakura sticking close to them, so that they won't lose the track of one another among the overcrowded place.

"Why so eager to go home so badly, Bastard?"

"Kindly go die, dobe."

They didn't rush to get to the parking lot, casually strolling and slipping past the amass of bubbling loud people and Sakura`s emerald orbs constantly drifted to their intertwined palms, while she couldn't explain the sensation of warmth she felt creeping up her body, in the form of a lingering pleasant soft energy making her insides tingle and her heart effervesce. she felt...happy? was that real happiness she was experiencing?

Sasuke was not even trying, he was so gallant, so gentleman, so graceful and caring, almost...loving. He was not suffocating her, he was watching her silently, not demanding and possessive, he knew the right dosage of intimacy like when he came in the carousel and...

He made her **fly**.\

LITERARILY, they FLIED!

* * *

As if karma was playing in their favor, shimmering bursting fireworks exploded on the night sky, as they all stopped to watch.

"Look, Sakura-chan, they have fireworks on your birthday!" Naruto smartly put two and two together and silently, Sasuke decided that his statement was the only intelligent thing he said that day.

It was so weird. She wished to watch fireworks with someone, she would go alone and on festivals or New Year but she was cold sad and alone. But she would go anyways.

The rosette and Hinata _wow_ -ed when they made huge pink and purple rings then poured golden stars like star dust in the middle of them. Sasuke on the other hand, flickered his gaze to the young enchanted woman beside him, then racked a hand through his hair.

What was _that_? He kept on telling himself that he was only acting the way he did, because he wanted to keep his part of his promise, but...nothing he did felt forced, nothing was compromise, it didn't come to him as an obligation, it lacked the tension of a task he had to handle, everything being pure reflex as a man, and he was free to be _himself_.

Well, as much of his usual self as he could be, because riding cups and carousels was not exactly his style and his definition not entertainment was slightly different.

As more fireworks were embellishing the nocturne sky, keeping all the eyes up to follow the explosion of shimmering twinkles, Sasuke`s thoughts drifted back to the past, when his mother would take him to amusement parks, riding carousels and buying sweets, giving back warmth and he had that epitome of suave innocence and love, but Sakura...she did nothing to taint that image, because she was even more angelic than Mikoto. It suited her so much. Like the first kid love the girl next door he grew up to. That was why he didn't bring his former fiancé there. It only dawned to him that she...has never been so angelic. Never.

For fifteen minutes, star shapes, rings and lines of stardust continued to mesmerize their eyes, as fireworks burst in all the colors of the rainbow, much to the two ladies` delight. The moment it was over, a pleasant silence lingered between them as they walked all the way back to the parking lot.

"Teme, did Ino call?"

Sasuke knew that his friend was trying to question him about the cake that Ino swore she would deliver, among other promises of brutal impalement and threats of losing certain body parts for only letting her plan something like that, so late. "Not yet."

"I will call her then and see if she is ready with the...delivery."

Before Naruto had the chance to become even more suspicious, Hinata`s phone buzzed inside her clutch as her fingers fumbled down to gasp he beeping device, moonlight eyes glued to the screen, going wide as saucers, horrified and petrified. it was Hiashi, her father who probably found out about her little escapade and wasn't all that impressed by her rebel behavior.

Damn her cousin for not being able to keep a secret properly. Naruto, sensing the worry oozing from his lover`s every fiber, softly tapped her shoulder, dropping his cerulean eyes on the screen. "What is the matter?" Then he opted for an equally horrified expression as Hinata`s, which made Sasuke rose an eyebrow at the odd acting pair. "Uh-oh..."

Gulping once, placing a hand on her chest, Hinata squeezed her orbs shut and answered the call, her voice no louder than a mice`s. "Yes? F-Father?" Sakura observed how the gentle lady turned all anxious and looked like she was in the verge of crying. It was the same feeling that Sakura experienced each time she had to turn back to her foster home, so she totally understood her.

"What happens? Who is she talking to?" She turned to ask a motionless Sasuke, who was keeping hi onyx eyes glued to Hinata`s back, who had a hand on her unoccupied ear, not quite hearing clearly for the laughters and screams reached all the way to the back of the park.

"Her father." He told her that they don't approve of her relationship, and although Sakura didn't hear what Hinata told but she nodded once in understanding and her face sunk, feeling extremely sorry for the pair`s unfortunate harsh situation and for the fact that they weren't free to express their love without boundaries and restraint, just like a true love should be. It was heartbreaking and teary, but also extremely unfair. A lump formed down her throat at the view of a bright angelic Hinata`s aura turning a mass of grey thunderstorm clouds, lingering on her shoulders, as her all stance screamed for help and understanding.

"I-I am s-sorry, I-I h-have t-to go." She turned around to let them know, apology and sadness written all over her soft features. "F-Father has f-found out I was m-missing."

"I will go with you. Don't worry." Naruto was quick to fold her hands around her petite frame as she quickly embraced him back, hiding her face into his chest, with her nose resting upon his heart, being extremely serious, no trace of playfulness or goofiness carved into his tanned face. "Sorry guys, I am afraid you will be on your own."

Sasuke got the silent meaning of his words, understanding that he had to take care of the cake part. He nodded to his friend, as their gazes locked for a brief, soundlessly transmitting to his blonde friend that he had his undivided support and in case that something really grave was to happen, he would be by his side in a heartbeat, taking his side. Inwardly he was sorry for Naruto but he appreciated his friends loyalty to Hinata and openly cheered for him in front of Hyashi or anyone else. If anything, Sasuke`s lion wild spirit was an indescribable support for them, plus, the Uchiha was faithful and devoted to his friends. He has always been.

"Will you be all right?" Sakura asked Hinata, her tone reeling with worry and sympathy. If there was something she could do for the lavender eyed Hyuga, she would do it and she knew that the short curtly nod she has given her, was only half-heartedly. It was all written in her eyes, she simply didn't want to return home, and she would probably run with Naruto in a place that no one would find them. Something told Sakura that what happened was not the first time occurrence.

"y-Yes. D-Don't worry." After a short round of farewells, without any other unnecessary cheesiness and a short embrace, Naruto jumped into his orange care and speeded up down the streets, while Sakura followed the thin line of smoke oozing from the vehicle, until she lost its sight into the swallowing darkness, slipping into the passenger`s seat, beside Sasuke.

* * *

"Hinata's father...why is it such a sin for Naruto to be half a vampire? He clearly loves Hinata and respects her and she loves him back."

Sasuke kept eyes on the road, even though the streets were pretty empty, save for some machos and pirates of the road, who were passing them at top speed, claiming the night streets for themselves. Nonetheless, he was paying attention to his pink haired company and didn't hide the truth from her. "Hinata is the heir of the clan. A very prominent one. People would talk, their influence would waver. They cannot let this happen, as a leader. He is torn between duty for clan and as a father."

Something that his father Fugaku was not, simply because he dedicated all his attention and efforts into being the absolute leader of their family and not bothering himself with trivia details, such as his younger son.

"This is so unfair."

"No one said duty is fair, but each has to decide upon his judgment and the best interest of his family and sometimes, those two concepts don't have cohesion. It doesn't mean he doesn't love his daughter or doesn't want the best for her."

"But you have told me that Hinata`s dad doesn't agree with Naruto?"

"It is nothing personal. He just isn't from a prominent family, though his father has been an admirable noble man and his mother is from a reputed family. Not as great as the Hyuga, whose history starts from hundreds of years ago, but they are definitely part of the aristocracy. They lost most of their wealth due to some unfortunate circumstances. It was hard for Kushina-san to be the head of a clan who was already short on members and scattered all over the world. They have never been a compact clan nor did they have a terrific leader to get them united. I hoped the dobe would someday try and bring them together, but I am afraid that his big heart and his trust in the others, is not enough to compensate for his weaker part, which is the shrewd mind and logic."

"This is something that you have. You are an intelligent man, Sasuke. And you are also his friend." What intrigued Sakura was the reason why doesn't he help his friend back then or in any other time, but what she didn't know was the fact that Sasuke was one of the most vivacious defender of their relationship and had absolutely no restrain in using his position and family name into silencing the gossiping opposing mouths and stand before Hyuga Hiashi, defending Kushina and her son and certainly, no one would dare to disrespect him and it was not entirely because he was an Uchiha, but because Sasuke`s merits outshined the inheritance of his royal lineage.

"IT is more complicated There are other wealthy families of a great tradition who wouldn't accept another potential threat to rise and knock on their doors. They are having their personal exclusive circle and hardly accept rebel vampires who like to follow their heart and don't particularly stick to traditions." Sasuke explained to Sakura, who tried to understand the circumstances better and take as much as she could from Sasuke`s words and if the Uchiha vampire told her that it was more complicated, she believed him, because a man like him would never overreact or exaggerate facts. "My family was one of them." She understood it from his acrimonious caustic tone that he was ripped between his morals, his friends and family.

Sasuke run a hand through his ruffled velvet hair, leaning his left elbow on the window, lazily driving with one hand. "The world of vampires sounds more like a political battle than supernatural." Sakura couldn't help but surmise, based on what Sasuke was enfolding before her and actually, the moment she has come to learn about the world of vampires and understand their existence, she has expected a little more action and supernatural touch, but it seemed that the internal problems that rammed the countries from the inside, transgressed the world of vampires and it was, in fact, nothing so fascinating about having vampires fight for power, using wicked machinations to cling to their honor and position within their secret society. Money was also involved in the equation and that made her feel disgusted.

Definitely Sasuke knew exactly what kind of thoughts were running through Sakura`s analytical mind. "It is. Politics and selfish interests know no race and ambition makes no discrimination. Be it vampire or humans, they would always seek for power, wealth and reputation, but most of all, acceptance from the others. Who is not with them or obediently follow their rules, is a rebel."

"Like you?"

"And the others."

"You guys are awesome to fight for what you believe. I admire that." She was speaking the truth. While she has been the one to cuddle with the idea of suicide, choosing the easiest and most cowardly way, there were creatures like Sasuke who refused to let their voices be taken and that only made her wanna die out of shame. She never felt more pathetic compared to the others. "You make me look like a total loser." Because she has decided to give it up just like that, without even conducting a proper fight. A true hero died in battle, not licking his wounds, watching from the sidelines, as legends were born. Sasuke was proving it to her.

"If you want to die, then what was the use to have lived so far? How can you just end it like this, without remorse?" If anything, Sasuke couldn't simply comprehend Sakura`s motifs to even flirt with the idea of taking her own life, when there were so many possibilities to fully exploit and fructify the fact that she was young and free to decide for herself, with the power of her mind. She wasn't stupid as well and that only intrigued and puzzled him more. He didn't get her way of coming up with such a solution, not to mention he truly felt sorry for her. Letting Sakura die would be a waste for the society. The rosette still had more to offer but didn't get the chance to shine.

Sakura knew that Sasuke was a honest man, who didn't like to beat around the bush, his family`s upbringing and probably the pressure of the society has made him so blunt, but even if she knew he was so right, his words had the gift to cut deep into the wound, and it hurt her to the point he angered her. "You shouldn't talk since you don't know what I have been going through!" If she has raised her voice at him, she didn't mean to but she didn't realize she was being impolite. "Do you really think that I have not tried to change my life?"

Sasuke on the other hand, remained totally unperturbed and calm as ever. He would never fall prey to the temptation and the mistake to raise his voice and lose his cool, when his interlocutors did. It was the easiest way to degenerate into a conflict. Plus, he had more class than to argue and lose control. "Then you haven't given it your all, because someone who tries his very best, will always strive to surpass the one he has been yesterday and not decide to end his life."

There was a lien of fire burning under her eyelashes, as her green garnet eyes got crystalline and salty drops have aligned with the rim of her curbed long lashes. She has never realized how a man`s words, even sincere and lacking will intent, cut hurt so bad and Sakura was convinced that the effect was emphasized by the fact that Sasuke was someone whose opinion she respected and trusted. But she was powerless in front of her condition as a woman and she was sensitive. "I am not like you." She whispered, afraid he would detect the tears she was fighting to hold back, in her quivery voice. "You weren't _alone_." If there was something that angered Sakura was to cry in front of the others. Tears were meant to be shared between her, the moon and the sky above, a secret confined within her heart, then she would wipe them away and shine. But never present that weakness in front of the others, and definitely not in front of someone like Sasuke, who evoked so many emotions inside her heart.

Where were the pleasurable chills and the warmth of security she felt minutes ago, when they rode the Carousel, when he showed her how amazing was to fly, when he held her hand or when he tried to kiss her? He was also sincere back then and Sakura wouldn't be a hypocrite and admit that he didn't try to hurt her in any way. His sincerity was the way he repaid people for being loyal to him.

What Sakura didn't learn about Sasuke, was the way he has estranged from anyone, after he broke up with his fiancé. It was not like they were there to collect the pieces, he was the one to declare war to his family run from home, even change his college, support his brother and his best friend and there was no one beside his mother but he needed more than a good word.

He needed a real support and Naruto too had problems, as well as his older brother who ruthlessly cut the roots with his family`s traditions and run away with only a bag full of dreams, a half empty wallet and a ravishing beautiful mortal, who loved him tenderly. "Especially on night time...moon is the cruelest of judges." He started cryptically and Sakura could detect the hurt in his voice, solitude and tiredness. "Because it fools you. Not everything that shines radiates warmth. That is the time...when it swallows you." **Solitude**. Each to his own home and he would switch the light off silence screaming the truth of his loneliness since there is no one to pierce it.

Not even his own HEARTBEAT. That ticking was not a REAL HEARTBEAT. And then, there was Sakura talking to him about solitude. The merciless seclusion that transgressed from the void into his life caused by the one he loved, to the sepulture of his cold abandoned heart.

"I know what you mean." She then gulped once feeling a mild comfortable with the heavy restless blackout, nibbling her lower lip in anxiety, pondering whether she should ask him about what she has found out from Hinata or not, since he brought that up. "You haven't told me that...you had a...f-fiancé."

She didn't miss it, she saw it in the tinted window glass even if she didn't have the guts to face Sasuke, the way he tightened his hold on the steering wheel and as a human, she felt the rising tick atmosphere. You could cut it with a knife; it felt like it was strangling her. She was tempted to tell him to stop being silent...stop that silence it was killing her, it reminded her of a mistake in the spur of a moment. Sasuke has been so gallant so gentleman and her curiosity strike like a cleaver hitting ice. a sculpture made of ice and she destroyed the art between them.

it was silent for ten minutes, during which Sakura has ticked the seconds inside her mind, following the rhythm of her mad speeding heart and it was suffocating. Even the air turned awkward and uncomfortable, but she remained frozen and refused to move a muscle afraid that something bad would happen.

Sasuke wasn't mad at Sakura for having asking him such a thing. He was way past that woman and he was hardly someone to mourn over spilled milk for so long. He knew that Hinata wouldn't keep silent and he could bet his money that they were talking about them when Naruto caught them whispering. That was why Sakura locked gazes with him and looked almost so...disappointed? Sad? Surprised? He couldn't decrypt that emotion.

But he didn't know what to tell her. he was trying to forget those memories, even if he knew he should cherish the beautiful memories, but they were not part of his life anymore, it has been a long time, he cut her roots out of his mind, he was way past everything, shock, sadness, tears, he left him broken, shallow, there was a hollow in his heart, he could even hear the wind blowing through the cave of his chest, screaming silence, she was history, she belonged to the past, to the demons, to the memories, she was...

"Dead." He whispered softly to the emerald eyed woman, whose heart shot to her throat, making her flinch, not expecting him to answer her, and his voice didn't sound like his confident velvet baritone, for it was strangled, void of feeling, of inflexion, like his thoughts had not rhythm and if Sakura would have breathed -she didn't- she would have missed it.

"What?"

"She is dead. My former fiancé. I find it futile and ineffectual to talk about _phantoms_ of the past. It is the future the one I am interested in." She was surprised and pained to hear him talking so cold emotional and heartless about the woman that was once so important to him, like it never mattered.

It almost pained her. Hinata told her he used to love her so much, yet from the nonchalant way to refer to her as trivia and ineffectual infuriated her. "But you used to _l-love_ her, didn't you?" Why wasn't she shutting up? Her mind was screaming at her to stop walking on thin ice, but her mouth couldn't shut up, she couldn't stop even if alarming bells were alerting her brain to stop, she didn't. "She was important to you, you wanted to marry her!"

He was mentally counting down to ten, doing zen meditation, anything, everything to stop her from entering his mind again, to not snap at her, because it was not her fault that Sakura has found out about something so trivial, but it was human nature to find romance interesting, romance meant exploiting a weakness, loving and adoring someone was a fragility of his strong character, reminding him of how **imperfect** and **vulnerable** and prove that no character is indomitable.

He prayed in his mind for her to stop, but she refused to read the ancestral signs of discretion and shut her mouth. "This is not your business."

He tried to cut her short hoping she would understand. He has underestimated her unyielding independent demanding inquisitive personality, but it was him the one who refused to evoke the memories he was trying to forget back into his mind. Sakura grew on the streets, vulnerable, abused, without rules. She had a fragment from everything and having taken the worst blows and he tried his best to put himself into her shoes and decipher that curiosity.

"Hinata told me she is...was a human. I cannot help but relate to her, this is why I am intrigued." She was starting to get scared for a reason that she couldn't comprehend, but it was charging through every pore. That person clearly didn't love him enough if she chose to spend the rest of eternity with him, but she didn't imagine why would she trick a man like Sasuke, let alone deny him.

"This is preposterous and your logic is ludicrous if you think that you are anything like she used to be." What Sasuke truly meant behind his calloused words, was that Sakura was better than his fiancé, more graceful, and undeniably superior.

But Sakura ruined everything with her next statement just because she has misunderstood and misinterpreted his crude affirmation, feeling deeply insulted. She wouldn't take it, not from him and not that night. "I never dared to compare myself to anyone, especially someone that was so important to you, but I would definitely make my intentions _clear_ from the beginning and not toy with the other`s feelings. Especially not the ones I love."

" _What_ are you talking about?" She almost filched at the way he clicked his tongue on each syllable that left his mouth and she could see he was pissed off by the way his teeth were gritting ,his sharp jaw was clenched to the point she could hear his fine sharp bones crack, but she was too her blood boiled.

"If she didn't love you enough, then why would she go as far as to entice you to marry her, just to turn around in the end, and walk away and leave you behind?"

Wheels scratched down the abrasive empty road, smoke whirled around the shiny vehicle as it came to an abrupt halt, while Sasuke pulled the car on the right side of the road, jerking the steering wheel with an uncharacteristically lack of elegance and precision, and she would have jump through the windscreen if not for the seat belt to yank her backwards and prevent her from injure herself.

"What the he-"

"Before you start to make outlandish assumptions about me being inveigled by anyone else and talk about things you have _no_ right to do so, I would suggest you to _shut_ your mouth and mind your own damn business. Remember, Sakura," he hissed her name in such a vile vicious dark way that made her eyes sting, burn and pool with cold tears. "Curiosity _killed_ the cat. Do you _want_ to know what pretension did?" That rumbling low rich alto voice of his was menacing, evil, it lacked the playfulness it had while bickering with Naruto, his rage was pure, unaltered, honest and...she grew afraid of him for the first time since they met. She fumbled with the seat belt, squirming under his stare and the intensity of it.

It was pitch painfully dark on the road, there was no pole to illuminate the way or the surroundings, it was dark around, and she couldn't see Sasuke`s obsidian narrowed to slits eyes or the white of his eyeballs, as they were covered by his night raven hair, making him look like he was blending into the night, he looked like the hideous facade of a demon, of a devil of a...vampire. It only dawned on her that she went too far, she has pushed forbidden buttons, she transgressed the mutual agreement of coexisting in peace, mindful of the privacy of each other`s faults, but she chose to be disobedient and pay with the sin for her guilt violating his trust.

Sakura felt scared, afraid for the life she didn't value, he had the power to pulverize her in a blink of an eye, he could make it painful for her, torture her mind and spirit, that was not what her parents do, that was a dangerous man, the dominating race, the wielder of the night, the _Prince_ of the immortals.

What could he do worse than killing her? she didn't want to find out, horrible images of movies with vampires -with his own confessions- ripping flesh, blood, mutilating, eating from her flesh, the pain, misery...her heart was bursting out of her ribcage, praying to open up her chest and let it fly away in dread, her hands were cold and sweaty, she couldn't blink, breath she was so afraid it killed the air around her cut short, everything was freezing.

Sakura didn't know how she literarily flew off the car, throwing the door open and the moment Sasuke realized that her curls of pink hair brushed past his car, has he realized what he has done and his first instinct was to bang his head on the steering wheel, as he was gripping the leather ring so fierce, that his knuckles turned purple bruised. He went too far. It was unnecessary, for it didn't hurt him as much as to do such a thing, but she didn't get it. She was better and she was the one acting hurt, like she tried to defend his fiancé in the name of their bond as humans and females, she was foolish and he was angry with her stupidity.

Quickly assessing the extent of the damage he made in the span of a moment of lowering down his guard in front of Sakura, Sasuke pulled himself together, and unbuckled his belt, throwing the door open, without bothering to stop the engine, simply pulled up the lever of the emergency brake and dashed after Sakura. He couldn't let her go like that, thinking that he was a total ass, who couldn't keep his delicacy and discretion in front of a woman. It was unacceptable.

Sakura was taking large steps, trying to half walk and half run on the extremely uncomfortable loud shoes, her heels burned on the concrete while her eyes were watery and her breath was undecided whether to stop or get haywire, it was extremely cold outside and the heavy darkness only seemed to highlighted the unfriendly environment, she was terrified till bones, hurt, feeling like a wrecking sinking ship, as she was gripping Sasuke`s long black coat -stupidly enough it was warm and smelled of comfort, because it was that part of him that she felt secure around- she refused to acknowledge that side of him, it was someone she didn't recognize.

 _Don't cry don't cry don't you even think of crying!_ She kept on chanting that into her mind but it was in vain, since she could feel her jadeite orbs shimmer of the tears that bathed her viridian golden irises, and Sakura couldn't actually pinpoint the reason why she was crying: was it because she was hurt and disappointed to find out that Sasuke had such an objective apathetic demeanor in front of love, or it was because for some reason she was so afraid of him in that moment, that she couldn't help but become the protagonist of a horror movie and she was the young prey who kept on running from a monster.

Nonetheless, her heart had a shutdown, as she heard heavy frenetic steps behind her, understanding that Sasuke wouldn't permit her to simply walk away like that, and that terrified her to the point of making her squeeze her eyes shut as more tears leaked down on the porcelain surface of her cheeks, and when a hand landed on her right shoulder making her stumble back as a physical reaction of intertia and stop dead in her tracks, she cried out loud at the top of her lungs, in a high pitched shriek that she herself didn't identify with her normal self.

"No! Don`t touch me!" The tremors and the dread touching her screech were painful to hear and almost had Sasuke go deaf, while she jerked her shoulder from his mild grip –he had a gentle touch on her, afraid of a possible extreme reaction of reject- and continued to walk away from him, with her hands folded around her quivering body, clumsy shaking steps, totally not helped by the beautiful heels she wore, her head was bent down as her hair was fluttering in the wind, but she didn't turn around to acknowledge him or welcome his presence.

It was in the moment he felt the acid rejection on his every bone, did Sasuke come up with the explanation for her unusual rigid stance. She was scared. And the worst part of it, was that she was AFRAID of _him_! That couldn't happen, his mind refused to let such ideas swirl inside, his eyes went blind of everything around but her fading into the limbs of nowhere silhouette, all because she came to envision him like a monster, like a nightmare, like someone she didn`t feel safe in the company of. And that made his chest burst like a torch, consuming him into ashes.

"Sakura..." No, Sasuke didn't back away, he wouldn't have her stray from him and live under the false impression that he would ever lay a finger on her and hurt her in any way and he would definitely not allow whatever started to bloom between them perish because of a fleeting apparently loss of his cool and control.

Easily catching up with her, the raven haired Uchiha came right behind Sakura and without paying it much need of what he was doing, he wrapped his fingers around her forearms, feeling something break like porcelain down his chest when twitched and tried to wiggle out of his reach, trashing into his arms and fighting to pry his hands away off her person, but he stubbornly resisted, knowing it from experience that she would soon get tired to fight him and give in.

Even though he wasn't facing her, as his chest brushed the swell of her should blades, Sasuke could tell that the emerald eyed lady scared. He softly tugged on her arms, and slowly, mindful not to do any demanding or rough moves, he brought her towards him, as the swell of her shoulder blades tapped his broad chest, allowing his warmth to invaded her personal bubble. His smell, the way he conjured her name so suave so soft like having a turn of personality, the nonchalance of his artistic easiness in flapping personalities was an obstruction for her mind to properly read his character, he was just as unpredictable as ice under fluffy fresh snow, dangerous, always on guard. "...I am _not_ angry." he breathed into her ear, gluing his warm lips on her hair, inhaling the spring feminine floral scent entrapped into her cherry locks. She was still shuddering, her breath was ragged and uneven and Sasuke was mentally killing himself. She was tender like a butterfly. If he touched the golden pixie powder on his wings, she wouldn't be able to fly and she would perish.

Slowly, barely touching her, the onyx eyed Uchiha started to rub her forearms, running the tip of his fingers along her limbs, as she did a throaty soft sound which was forced like she was both afraid, uncomfortable but she also enjoyed the warmth he elicited inside her, by the grace of his touch. "I am sorry. My loss of discretion is unjustifiable." A harsh sob escaped past her lips, emerald eyes clutching, while she started to give in to the spell of his silk rich tranquil voice. _That_ was the man she first met, that was the vampire who challenged the archetypes of supreme grace, finesse, elegance and eloquence, and that was the one to make her heart melt like caramel.

"Don't be afraid of me. I vowed to not hurt you, haven't I?"

She bowed her head once, shoulders collected to her front like she wanted to hide in a shell and cover in pearl. The Uchiha vampire slipped his left hand around her collarbone and embraced her in a way that was not putting any pressure around her shoulders, allowing her freedom, discretion and enough room to refuse him, stunning him with the unexpected concealed tenderness and for him, she leaned backwards into his touch, not entirely since she was still reticent, but at least she didn't protest or try to push him back.

He knew she was holding more sobs that threatened to leave her system and witnessing a woman cry was making his insides throb in agony. That was unacceptable, no man who had the audacity to call himself a man would make a woman cry. Never. It was the biggest sin. "I have principles...and I will stick to them." She whispered airy to him. "But your privacy...is not the territory I am allowed to transgress. I am sorry."

Slowly, Sakura let her eyes flutter open, and she rose her stare towards the starry arch of the sky, while Sasuke did the same, both following the curb silhouette of the beautiful crescent moon sharp glowing and twinkling stars, caressed by the gentle wind`s touch.

There was no hum coming from the world around, it was completely dark and still, except for the rhythm of their heartbeats. Sasuke felt Sakura`s pulse pump under the palm of his hand, while the rosette fought the urge to melt into his touch. He was treating her like a china, while she has deeply insulted him. She felt beyond guilty and remorseful and she didn't deem herself worth of addressing him any word. "Let`s go back into the car." his voice no louder than the twinkles of the stars above but more serene than the halo of the moon, lulled her into following him. He should not be so elegant and mesmerizing. It was not human his grace was out of that world.

She didn't deserve that privilege.

Sakura untangled from him and walked past the Uchiha wordlessly as he remained rooted in place for a moment, understanding that he should allow her privacy. She wasn't upset she felt guilty stupid and decided to shut up and not say anything stupid because Sakura would rather die on the spot than hurt him again. He racked his hand though his hair and followed her back into his car, sliding on the driver`s seat, he pulled down the parking brake, stepping on the gas and drove off. It was quiet ride, while Sakura did everything to keep her eyes on her lap and she refused to meet his eyes.

The elevator ride has been similar to the rest of their journey back home, quiet, tense, remorseful and awkward, and Sakura was yet to meet the onyx eyes that she grew to seek for being entrapped by their beauty, she would avert her eyes in all other possible directions, it wasn't difficult since the elevator was entirely made of glass and see through.

She couldn't wait to get into his home, undress of the fine clothes and curl under the covers of the comfy bed in her room, anything but escape his overwhelming presence. Wordlessly, Sasuke urn the key into the knob unlocked the door of his flat and stepped aside to let her pass first, mindful of everything that went through her mind. He knew she was being stupid for feeling so guilty, but he refused to voice out his thoughts, because he didn't want to hurt her again with the disgrace of his boldness.

* * *

The moment she stepped into the hall, Sakura quickly took of he the uncomfortable heels and she let Sasuke`s coat slip off her shoulders, wordlessly returning it to his owner. She burned to say something to him, anything, even if she didn't have anything wise to say, but she didn't get the chance because Sasuke turned his back on her, threw his car key on the coffee table and took off his jacket, stiffening his shoulders for a moment as if there was something that shot though him, but it was almost unnoticeable.

She remained rooted in place in the middle of the living room like an idiot, following his shadow traipsing to the mini bar on the other side of the room, carvel in a geometric especially cut wall, spreading his hands on the rim of the long narrow oak island, head bent forward, and supporting his body on his palms.

She stood unmoving behind him, eyes glossy and latched to the whitecaps of his slim sculpted back, with the tide of his tense firm shoulder bladess protruding from his slim fit shirt, observing and mindful that there seemed to be something wrong with him. She grew instantly worried. Was he angry and lied to her to lure her back to his home to do Heaven knew what crazy things?

Worry won over the unjustified fear while Sakura trudged in his direction, cautiously getting loser, stopping when there was a stretch of her hand between their bodies and almost whispered.

"Are you all right? Sasuk-"

"Go away."

A lump formed down her throat and she gulped heavily once to alleviate that knot constricting her windpipe, but she didn't shy away. That was not the tone of an angry man, it was reeling of something else that got close enough to struggle and pain. "Don't be so convincing, I might take your words to heart."

"..."

Seeing that the Uchiha remained silent and unmoving, with his fingers curled around the bar, knuckles turning blood crimson at the pressure he was applying, she went on. "I have no right to demand anything from you...but don't keep me at a distance."

"..."

"Please, Sasuke." There was just something in her plea, in her siren bell voice that jingled through his heart and reverberated through all his body, yet Sasuke savagely fought it back, wanting her out of his damn mind. She should be the one to stay away from him.

His rich baritone voice has lost its supple touch and confidence and the way he breathed the words to her was ruffled and ragged, and so much unordinary to his character."...I am...sorry...for being rude."

She shrugged once, brushing it off. He already said he was sorry and she accepted his apology, plus, it was not that the reason for her disquiet and uncertainty. "It's cool, I don't mind. I have always been abu-"

He spun around in a swift way that challenged the most seductive definition of the word speed and elevated his left hand towards a startled rosette, caressing the wine glass outline of her pearl white cheek, and the gentility of his butterfly touch blessed her with a round of rippling tingles skimming down her body and her heart stopped pumping life as well as her breath. "-no. Such behavior towards a lady is unacceptable and revolting."

She sought for his onyx eyes, lulled to the caress of his voice, but his obsidian pools weren't set on her, rather than her check, following the line of vision of his fingertips dancing on her skin, like trying to focus on something. "Women...should only be touched..." his fingers trailed along her jawline. "...with red _roses_..." his thumb fell on the contour of her upper lip, as his voice became seductive like the touch of silk on lace. "...diamonds..." His eyes ultimately entangled with her emerald ones, as his thumb brushed past her parted lips, going inside her full plum lower one, following her row of pearl teeth, whispering. ".. _.kisses_."

"S-Sas-uke..." She closed her eyes unable to depict the feelings he elicited by the sound of his spell and the grace of his allure. Slowly, as maneuvering fine crystal glasses, Sasuke slipped his index finger under her chin, bringing her face upwards to dive into his dark ocean obsidian deep eyes, while Sakura shudders and sweaty pants and squeeze her lips, green garnet sparkling Eyes fluttering like soft butterfly wings, lulled by the spell of the flower`s perfume.

The way that Sasuke seemed entrapped into a whirlpool of inner tumult, had Sakura frozen on the spot, as his chaste touch seemed to be the only anchor to reality, following the way he briefly frowned, before letting his hand fall on his side, turning around and slipping a hand through those rebel playful ink spikes, his voice suddenly flat and tired. He plants hands down and bowed head, sighing heavily. "It has been a long day. You must be tired."

"You want me to leave don't you?" she knew that stance and she recognized the hidden meaning of his polite words. It was a diplomatic way of sending her off and out of his life, mindful of not to hurt her in any way. Her own voice was graced by the cold feel of icy salty tears, pooling at the corner of her shimmering crystal emerald eyes.

Words…winding images that didn't abode into the realms of his mind anymore, backfired to him like a flaming boomerang, ringing into his ears, enveloping his vision and trying to drill into the walls around his heart and make their way in a place that they were intruders as Sasuke was trying to fight them back.

Fight back _that_ voice.

Forget her and those damned images of her that she still haunted him with, were ricocheting back to her, all triggered by the sound of Sakura`s strangled voice.

 _"Why won't you say anything to me? Why are you always silent? How would I know what you feel if you never tell me?!"_

"Are you…in pain?" The rose haired woman tried again, carefully and vigilant so that to not explore parts of his mind and life that weren't designed for her to take a peek at, her suave voice no louder than a caress of the summer wind, brushing past the green tree leaves.

"...no."

"You're lying. You are trembling and sweating."

 _"You have always been a dark horse. I cannot live an infinity of incertitudes."_

His forehead was glistening with fine lines of perspiration, rolling down his temples and entangling into his midnight hair, that fell into his squeezed shut onyx eyes, like a velvet curtain, his thin lips were parted and inhaling sharply and uneven, his pulse has accelerated to the point in threatened to make his tensed muscles convulse, and he was slightly shaking, as the excruciating familiar pain burned his chest from inside out, making him go crazy. Quickly and clumsily, his left hand flew down his pants, fingering the familiar transparent box inside his pocket, but when he attempted to pop it open, because of his unfocused vision and trembling fingers, he dropped it down, mumbling a vicious curse in return. Red blood pills rolled down the floor, scattering in all possible directions, on the polished floor.

The low deep sound of pills hitting floor echoed through the stillness of the living room and it was as painful as a sharp razorblade scratching soft skin, making Sakura cringe and flinch, but her emerald eyes quickly took in the unfamiliar details of the mysterious pills, quickly venturing into taking a wild surmise, bending down to touch the almost empty box.

"Don't..." Sasuke`s throaty dry and hoarse voice rung through her mind as he half turned his extremely pale face to look down at her, but she was already brushing her fingers on the translucent object. She didn't need to see that or witness that embarrassing weakness of him.

"Is this..." Forest green eyes went wide as saucers the moment she realized that her conjuncture has been reality, rapidly drifting to his profile, seeking for confirmation. "These are blood pills...? But i thought that...?" She didn't need to complete the rest of her sentence, because it made perfect sense inside her mind. She cast her hues down so as if she was mentally coming into terms with her hypothesis, shot by the consternation of the truth, while she absentmindedly traced the outline of her pulse with her fingers. Her blood wasn't enough, even if he assured her that he could go on for two months without having any drop. "D-Did you...l-lie?"

She suddenly grew afraid, and her dreadful features turned into half of a frown, not accepting the fact that Sasuke came as a dark horse in their contract. Foe what was she angry, she didn't know but it just rammed inside her. Sasuke turned his head fully around to face her, and his eyes were ten shades darker than usual, seeming to have swallowed all the light and spill the pits of darkness around his barely visible irises, but she could see he couldn't quite focus on her losing the peculiar intensity and wisdom. And something in her chest was more intense than fright, while her feet unconsciously carried her towards his weakened looking face, cutting the distance between them, lifting her hand towards him, gripping his forearms, fine nails digging into the crest of his firm biceps.

Her touch burned him like he has been thrown amidst the melting mass of the blazing sun, and he felt like he was drying him of oxygen, making his lungs burn and his skin to crawl. "Sakura, please just-"

She didn't back away from him, understanding what he needed and what he tried to do, and her heart broke at the obvious pain that seemed to take him as a prisoner and ravage him from inside out, while he was visibly fighting it. Her hands run along his toned arms and even if he stiffened at the feel of her touch, she didn't shy away from him.

"Sasuke? Isn't my...aren't I enough? Do you need m-more of...my blood?"

He didn't answer to her, even if the truth was crystal clear and didn't need any more confirmation, yet he remained silent as a grave stone in November, perishing under the merciless perennial touch of time, while the name encrusted on the marble became a reminiscent memory of a soul. More past memories and lines he strived to cut down from his mind, were overlapping with the present, embodied into Sakura`s presence.

" _I am sick of being just your unlimited source of blood! You don't love me you only want to drink every fucking single drop of my blood until I die! I don't want to die Sasuke! I want to live!"_

Sasuke squeezed his onyx tight, like trying to get them out of his retina, but failing. Those dreams were clinging to him like plague, cursing him like Voodoo spells, as they were playing his heart around their wicked mad fingers, making his temples throb. "Leave." He told Sakura simply, without embellishing his words with unnecessary politeness, but she could clearly detect it into his voice that it wasn't related to her, but him alone. "Before I...lose... _it_."

She gulped once, feeling her throat go dry as her heart beat in unison with his growing visible pain, tracing her tongue over her dry lips to moisten them. "Lose what?"

"Control." His silk voice was a whisper entrapped in the curtain of the night and Sakura couldn't help the tears threatening to roll down her eyes. There was more he was trying to transmit to her, there was more of the picture he was trying to sketch to her, and she couldn't help but let her cheek glue to his back, shutting her eyes, in a vain hope to let his feelings sew into her own, and get whatever was torturing him so bad out of his mind.

 _"I don't want to die! You are a monster!"_

"My dream is to die." The pink haired woman breathed to him, beaming of honesty and it was a truth that both of them knew, yet the unfaltering of her tongue startled Sasuke. He still couldn't withstand those cruel words coming out of her lips. Lips he was dying to kiss, to feel, to taste, to write verses on them, with the tip of his tongue. Steal another kiss from her.

 _"I want to live! I don't want a murderer as my husband!"_

"No..."

"...humanity."

She was stricken by the implication the moment she faced his one single word. A vampire was struggling to deny himself the only source of vitality and power in lieu of the last figment of his once mortal self.

Self-control was one of the most precious value to human. As long as he respected life his promises he won't be just a walking corpse. It only came to her that Sasuke was melting on his feet to drink her blood, and what was he fighting was his urges because he wanted to keep his promise. He didn't want to bite her and have her blood.

Sasuke's perception was that not a beating heart was making one human. It was feelings and morals! As long as he kept promise suffer to not hurt her...he would feel human! She wanted to cry the moment she realized the span of her epiphany! He was willing to go so far to cherish mortality's most precious candor and she was willing to give it up and tousle it in the wind like nothing, for free.

She was pathetic and she felt accordingly. She could even taste it on her tongue. A dead vampire, the symbol of eternity's most sinful stigmata , the epitome of finesse, the temple of beauty , refinement, wisdom and strength...a vampire...was out shadowing her by being more alive than her, a mortal.

She felt prickling pearls of tears align with her eyelashes, not stopping herself from sobbing.

 _"Go_ _away_ _, I don't want you to get close to me again, Sasuke!"_

"Please let me in...Sasuke." Words so opposite from his fiancé`s were fluttering from Sakura`s lips and he could feel the warmth of her touch on his skin, as she half embraced him from the behind. "And I shall let you have my everything."

Seeing that he didn't answer, but nor did he pushed her back, Sakura went on with her confession. She was quick to acknowledge that her feelings for Sakura transcended a simple contract of blood. He meant more to her than that. More than her blood. "I want to know your story. I want to learn about your deepest feelings, as you know mine."

 _"You don't care about how I_ _feel_ _! You only live on your own ontology of blood! You only want my fucking blood! You love it more than you love me!"_

"...go to sleep Sakura." He tried one more time, coaxing her into locking the door of her bedroom and stay away from him, and he also implied the fact that he was not sending her out of his home. He just wanted her to leave danger, leave his thirsty side and leave him deal with his problems, all alone, like he has ever been. **Solitude** was not a mere song in Sasuke`s miserable life, it grew to be his most devoted companion, making the most sincere duet with his **shadow**. **Children of darkness** , clinging to his soul and destiny.

"You are in pain. Do you think I am blind?" There was reproach and scolding in her soprano high pitched tune, but Sasuke didn't mind, because he could feel it on his skin that she was dead worried for him. A thing that was so alien to him, yet the feelings she conjured inside the casket of his heart were genuine and pure. "Don't ignore me, please Sasuke."

"I am...fine." a lie so big that not even he believed it. He was beyond weakened and the agony he was feeling was making his innards rot and tremble. He needed blood. He needed it like a drug addict needed euphoria. It was too much and too powerful to withstand and fight back, even for him. Her blood…her red liquid of life was ambrosia, as she was more than a simple woman. In front of his blood, he was a slave of lust as he was a captive of her beauty.

 _"I don't feel safe around you! God only knows when you will not be able to control your thirst and attack me!"_

His former`s lover kept on yelling and crying in the back of his mind and he wanted to thorn that page out of his mind and burn it to ashes.

He wouldn't have Sakura`s blood. He promised her he only needed it once in a blue moon. Even if it killed him and left him dry, he was forced to hold back. Pain and torment was flowing through his vein, along his dark lifeless blood. It was consuming, his teeth were clattering and his jaw was tensed to the point he felt his all damn skull would break and he was barely breathing.

"I am not scared. The promise I made...you already done more than enough. I shall keep it." Sakura let her hand trail down his petrified burning in some sort of odd fever arm until she wrap her fingers around his hand. "No one ever asked anything from me, no one ever needed something from me." She understood why was it important for Sasuke to keep his promise to her, but she couldn't see him in that stance. She was feeling his once radiating of striking breath cutting power turn light like a feather and leaving his body. She was feeling his heart crumble like porcelain at the sight of his pain. She couldn't take it, it was suffocating and she was unconsciously crying and pleading with him. "If it is my blood you need...I will not disagree."

Heavens, even a simple command as moving and talking felt tremendous for his lips. "I didn't bring you here to take advantage of you like this. You were supposed to be safe here. I was supposed to protect you. I vowed to **keep you safe**."

"You are!" The way he acted around her, like a mesmerizing lover trapped into her most romantic fairytale, treating her with a grace that no one did, making her reel in bliss for the first time in her life, was more than she could ask for. His kiss let her have the taste of Paradise even without dying first and brought her one step closer to a place she would never visit if she was to take her own life, an unforgivable sin. "You didn't let me die did you? You are a good man."

"Leave."

"Why?"

"Your _blood_...I can't stop. If it's _you_ , I don't have control. If you stay you will day quicker. Leave before this happens. If anything, I don't want to be held accountable from your death."

It was too much the remorse and the guilt was making him burn like gasoline. Naruto has been right, he should have let her know, so Sasuke told her the truth. The painful truth that he was not only drinking her blood, he was drinking the very life out of her body. The porcelain doll in the form of a cherub suave face was mean to die because of him, he felt like a ruthless bloody dirty _assassin_ for doing that to her.

She was free to run from him whenever and live. Live like his fiancé wished to. He only realized her plea when it has been too late.

"N-No." But apparently, Sakura was adamant to be stubborn and not accept –or care- the implication of his words. "I won't leave. In this moment, you are everything I have, Sasuke." He turned around to look into his eyes not believing that she was willing to still be with him even after finding out what he has confessed to her and his stare startled and thrilled her. "If I go back...it will be in the same place where we met." He got the silent message: whether she died slowly, but with a real chance to live her life at its fullest, was better than going back to commit suicide by jumping off the bridge.

 _"I can't live like this forever Sasuke. Leaving you breaks my heart...but in the end...between life and you...I decided to live."_

"If you don't want me to stay...in the end, I will still chose death." There was so much determination and honesty into her eyes that left Sasuke powerless to try and convince her to back away and leave him. She had her fingers interlaced into his own, she felt her soft warm skin blazing into his own. He never wanted to let her go, it felt so emotionally right to hold her. "No one forced me to do this. I doing it willingly and today...when you gave me the necklace...introduced me to Naruto and Hinata...danced with me...hold hands...returning my embrace…and almost kissed me," He would have smirked at the way she blushed and whispered those words, if he didn't feel like his mouth would crack and fall off his face, "I felt this butterflies in my heart...and it was warm."

Such an alien sensation…a cherub singing carols in front of the illuminated Christmas Tree, amidst the dancing star shaped snowflakes, the purity and the suavity of the scene, replying before her eyes, his lips on her…it was more than poetry the way he made her feel. "It has _never_ been warm into my chest before I met you Sasuke"

 _"There has been only blood and_ _darkness_ _since I met you Sasuke. I love you, but I have to leave!"_

He let his onyx eyes close, as he was hearing two contradictory voices screaming into his ears. His fiancé…and Sakura. Yin and yang. Two suns: one ceasing him away from its orbit, and the other blazing to his sky.

"I will not leave you even of you throw me outside. Because for the first time in forever...I don't know why but...I felt like smiling and laughing without a reason." Sakura has never confessed such thing to a man and she had no idea what her words meant in the spur of intimacy, and maybe that was why she afforded the luxury of being so sincere and romantic, without realizing it.

And when her quivering nightingale voice aligned with the tears flowing in tiny lazy rivers along the outline of her cheeks, she overshadowed the fading shadow of the painful memory of his former spouse, as a new feeling that he thought died ingrained into his chest, having him wind his hands around her shoulders and pull her into a tight embrace, burying his face into her veil of coral pastel pink floral hair.

"...don't leave me." Even if Sakura knew that he was living a past memory, those words were meant to her.

 _"No!_ _Don't leave_ _! I love you, what else can I do to prove it to you"_

 _"Let me go. If you love me like you say you do...then stop hurting me. For as much as it is left for me ...I want to be happy."_

"I won't. For as long as you want me to stay here...I will _not_ leave." Sakura didn't miss a single moment before she folded her own hands around his slim waist, returning his embrace, relishing in the strength that his hard rock body was oozing.

"I am sorry." He glued his lips to her ear and she shivered at the contact when he starts licking her neck and bare shoulders, rolling his slick hot abrasive tongue over her heated skin, making her insides burst into million flames and fireworks amassed to explode under her fluttering eyelashes. She _didn't_ want him to stop. Out of reflex, she arched her long swan neck to repay him with more access to wander at the content of his heart, as she folded her hands around his neck, playing in his velvet hair.

"Mmnn..." Her heart was having a race with her maddening haywire pulse, while she got pleasurable tingles jittering down her entire body, as Sasuke kept on sending her reel in euphoria, with his brocade silk lips waltzing on her porcelain creamy skin. If felt like touching the starts above with the tip of her fingers. "S-Sasuke..." She gasped when his lips suckled on her chin and there was a knot clenching under her belly button, making her squeeze her thighs together as she felt the sensuality of his touch travel to her most secluded places.

"You taste...like dark cherries...exquisite and so damn...divine." She lost her mind at the sound of his voice completely, as his masculine scent was embracing her senses. No matter what Sasuke did, was uber irresistible.

"D-Does it...is it normal to f-feel this g-good?" Sakura couldn't help but ask, to make sure that the way he was arousing her was because of her own attraction to him. She didn't doubt it was. No sane straight woman would be able to not react to that man and vampire. None.

"Yes. It is compensation for the pain we cause. Pleasure, in exchange for your blood." She felt him smirk against her skin, while his fine lips stroll to her earlobe, kissing and suckling on the elastic cartilage, making her go beyond hot and restless. Her hands were massaging and tugging his rich raven hair, as her body unconsciously scooped closer and closer to him, until she was basically glued into his chest.

"Ahhh...I-I am in n-no pain..."

"...I haven't touched a drop of your blood...Sakura. The thing you are reacting to, is my _touch_ alone."

She was the fire of the universe and he hasn't even pulled out his fangs to bite her! So her suspicion has been right, it was not to Sasuke the vampire she was reacting in such a shameful way, but Sasuke the man. She was a woman who had some feelings for him and it was undeniable. He knew that too, that was why he was touching her like that. In a way, giving her what she wanted.

A curtain of intimacy was veiling them in a maze of passion and sensuality, as he kept on covering the crevices and peaks of her collarbone, her shoulders, the hollow of her neck and her jaw with butterfly kisses, alternating the suckling of his sinuous moist lips with the tap of his rolling tongue and she swore she forgot how to breath.

His tongue rolling over her skin, in a tantalizing light as rain tango touching the grace of passion's most suave archetype of mesmerizing dark desires, appetizing sumptuous stolen caresses, waltzing over her skin, skimming along her quivering jelly spine, in the embrace of his sensual grace and finesse.

And then it happened. Before Sakura had the chance to formulate his next step into her foggy mind, Sasuke let the tip of his tongue skim along the column of her arched throat, up to his chin and then pressing it upon her parted lips, taking advantage of her startled gasp at the unexpected mesmerizing sweet contact, to let it slip past her lips and dash into the cavern of her mouth, forcing her to open it widely, angle her face and welcome his lips on her own.

He was truly kissing her, but that time, unlike his other previous touches of a dove`s feather upon her skin, he was sensual as dark chocolate poured into her mouth. She moaned deeply and longingly into his mouth, as he was massaging her lips with his own, letting his tongue reconnoiter the crevices and swells of her mouth, faces molding together and breaths entangled in the dance of their intertwined lips. Her hands locked around his neck, as the crowns of her nails scraped his scalp, stealing a dead sexy dark low growl from the back of his throat.

She wanted that so much, that it burned her!

There were twinkling sparkles all over where his lips were blessing her shivering skin, he was spanning hot rivers of saliva along the defined petal layers of her smooth pearl skin, she burned like the undivided evergreen charcoals scorching within the gleam entrapped into his onyx orbs, at the feeling of her touch and there has never been such a supreme ardent yearning to taste a man, like Sakura experienced in the moment his masculine chin brushed over hers and her breath forgot to escape past her lips.

There had been no phantom of a possible physical relationship with Sasuke that Sakura had in mind when accepting his proposal, let alone creating a web of romance between them. She was definitely a rather shy, discrete and careful respectful woman, she was keeping her modesty with the subtle tact and reticence of a diligent maiden promised to chastity and the young woman with rose petals un her blushing cheeks was hardly someone to easily succumb into corrupted sexual fantasies with a man.

Yes, she has come across many attractive men, some turning their heads to acknowledge her exotic ineffable, some never sparring her a meaningful look, but that was the most someone as modest and common as her ever got.

So Sakura too had come to have insignificant high school or elementary crushes being no different than normal girls her age, discovering the sinuous path of mysteries and unexpected surprises along the journey to womanhood, but that was all she got.

Having at least a ghost of a gentle caress under the limbs of the longing moon or sweet butterfly kisses in front of her front yard, was something that Sakura has only fantasized about in her deepest wildest dreams.

But what she was coming to perceive with Sasuke in the most tumultuous hours of her pitiful existence, transpired any definition of intimacy, romance and desire.

He was more than her mind could wrap and even more subtle and sublime than her reason could wrap. She didn't logically understood Sasuke, she felt him with her heart. That never yielding objective and not pertaining moist muscular abrasive organ was getting delirious in the beatitude of his moist lips or scorching eyes and she couldn't help but hum like a nightingale under the magic of his kiss.

She wanted him. Badly. And Sakura knew that Sasuke made it all too clear that she could kiss him or go further if that was what she wanted. But her careful wise steps were led by her ontology and inner morals so she decided to taste and take everything she could when she felt ready.

If she wanted to find real happiness, so then every little thing should be discovered and let to sink in, before she jumped inside the hurricane without a lifesaver. Any other ways she would sink trying to past the point of no return.

Sasuke was able to take her scattered dreams forgotten in the bottom of the ocean, yearning to be yet discovered, sewing them into a precious fine jewelry, like the luxurious breathtaking necklace she was wearing. He has only met her for one day and he was giving her such a gift...

Was it because it was no big deal for hum, it was something common to emphasize his hospitality or was it because he felt so indebted to her for what she was giving? Sakura was no fool. For her, letting Sasuke drink from her neck, even if the mind blowing reasoning coming along the path of his shocking revelation about vampires existence, was no such a drama to the rosette.

Being of a family belonging to the bottom of the chain, meant being desperate to find creative measures to make money. Beside doing the dishes to cheap fast foods for 3$ per hour was one of them, along with selling cookies, brooms or clean up homes.

No one would entrust someone like her a more decent as a baby sitter, but there was something she could do which was rather noble, civic, not humiliating -work never was- and brought her one day of free food and some cash, namely donating blood, which Sakura did trice or thrice a month.

Yes, God has been merciful with her and blessed her with a pretty healthy body. Normally, being underweight automatically made her ...to be a donor but the nurse from there pitied and liked her for her jovial and solar personality and faked her BMI. So to Sakura, having Sasuke suck her blood or donating it to the hospitals was almost the same. The feeling was definitely not the same!

Sure, minus the advantage that was in Sasuke's favor because donating blood never made her squeeze her thighs in the moist of lava boiling into the pits of her core when he touched her, nor did it made fireworks explode behind her eyelashes, but what the heck?

He promised her something rather impossible along with the privilege of living a life of a Princess. He was Hella rich and didn't a prick who worshipped money like the supreme definition of being an accomplished person or was he putting his bank accounts on a pedestal, so he had no problem in making her as comfortable as possible.

He shared the intimacy of his place with a stranger who might as well rob him then run away and even allowed her to touch him. And kiss him.

* * *

Soft lips like crystal butterflies suave wings were fluttering between her parted ones, coating her in a feather honey touch of infinite rivers of Eden. His touch and kiss was the gentle quintessence of sublime tenderness, his interlaced fingers skimming through her coral hair, kneading the back of her head, maneuvering her as close to him as possible melting the physical distance until it became an intangible phantom of ardor.

They were singing sonnets in canon, he was one beat faster than her, she was following the lead of his lips diligently, following the rhythm like jolly fingers caressing the keys of a majestic grand piano. His kiss was everything she wanted to experience: nowhere demanding, he allowed her enough room to draw back or come touching eager for more, a journey along the cool crystal sparkling sand of the coastline bathed in the moon's iconic rays and swayed by rolling lazy foamy waves.

His ravenous peace turned suddenly tender, emotional, mystical and enrapturing, it was slow, steady, precise and deeply meaningful, it was touching her heart, peeling every layer, understanding the fragility of her heart by the rolling honey feminine moans rippling out of her tongue.

She was not a helpless puppet in her mind, only her body wanted him so ardently, even as he kept her at a comfortable distance, she wasn`t jumping until passion like fire scorching blazing suns, she was rather inquisitive and curious. Not to mention incredibly delicate, a sylph with crystal wings, the eternal womanhood entrapped into the sanctuary of her chest, where her most suave delicacy's realm was.

The moment was erotic and deliciously intimate because she was unpolished, but educated, and she did the most shockingly sensual gestures, depicting the whirlpool of emotions conjured within the clasp of her heart, translated in fast disheveled heartbeats.

Sasuke observed one amusing peculiar thing she secretly seemed to enjoy, and that was playing in his silk soft raven hair. She was doing it so inconspicuously when her fingers found a long rebel tug of hair wind at the back of his head, wrapping her fingers around the spikes and absentmindedly stroking him and lulling him to succumb into her touch.

Only her mother, Mikoto, did something similar, loving to let her motherly endearing fingers comb his hair, but while her touch was embodying the sublime love of a mother, Sakura's was adorable, amazingly relaxing and intimate.

Like a _lover_ would do.

She was probably doing it unconsciously but his hand lead her, for it knew precisely what it wanted. While he kissed her, he couldn't help but let his stiff throbbing muscles relax under her tender touch, while her slim small fingers lazily skimmed along his scalp and, by Havens, it was on a whole new level of intimacy he had with a woman. Even more mystical than his once fiancé.

No one was kissed by that sublime ineffable like Sakura was. Pure and rare like pearls shining from the heart of the deepest marine abysses, yet so intelligent, wise, mature and laid back. She was not the one to drive on the fast lane, with the wind blowing in her eyes and her mind running like speed of light until the span of the distance lost her track, no, she was careful, intuitive and very humble, but not servile.

Like she has never been _just_ a poor young woman in the verge of suicide.

More. He _knew_ she was  more. More of everything.

He didn't care about anything, like he put the stares they got when dancing in the back of his mind, focusing solely on her forest green mesmerizing eyes. Read the gleam entrapped within and the sewing pearls of gold encrusted into the evergreen viridian irises. Eyes who were always seeking for his own.

He kept a laugh in the nest of his chest when he figured her out. She found him hot, she liked his eyes and his touch, but she had no problem in telling him _no_.

Feelings he knew entombed in the sepulture of his chest came swaying like winds fluttering wings, cloaking him with her perfume, as her lips were adjusting to the rhythm he was dictating, moving upon his, massaging, tasting, enjoying and losing her mind.

His heartbeat ticked like a pendulums dusty swing stirred by the times breathing life into and she felt exhilarated. Her body was electrically charged, a tingle was washing away her senses from that world, erasing her outer perception and her inner walls were throbbing. There was an odd wetness in the apex between her legs that she hasn't felt before, but the sensation was amplified with every stroke of Sasuke`s tongue, caressing her own and suckling on her lips.

He loved the way she was looking into his eyes and unlike the women before her, Sakura's was curios, intrigued, inquisitive, like a lost child in Neverland trying to grasp what the world was looking for. She was deep, her green garnet orbs were pure genuine void of lust and vulgar improper thoughts and he found himself both attracted and amused by that.

She wasn't just succumbing into her mortal primal carnal desires, shutting down the voice of reasoning. Her bright mind was spinning like a vigorous windmill, with a good blow of the wind, and she wanted to explore the prospect of finding the world's deepest wonders through all her senses.

Sakura was that minor part of the human population who lived to unwrap all the layers and discover the nimbi of light, in the form of its very quintessence. She was not looking for a moment of ecstasy. She wanted the real meaning of happiness. The most seductive finesse between the complex definition of the notion and the parallels between feelings and the concept. She was smart. Very smart and Sasuke hadn't been mistaken when he first met her. Sakura was not a woman to bore him. She could be many things to him beside the obvious part where she let him drink her blood: a confident, a friend, a younger sister, a lover.

When he pulled back, feeling the need of oxygen overwhelm her burning lungs, he gently leaned his forehead to rest on the crown of her own. "We are not playing Russian Roulette, Sakura. I am someone who promised to make you happy, not a gun at your temple."

She was very interesting and unique, this young woman, with so distinctive exquisite features. Unlike most of the people who could back away or refrain to engage themselves into a battle of holding gazes she didn't flinch away, staring right into his onyx pools, like she had the lifesaver that prevented her from freely exploring without sinking. And he wouldn't deny that her deep, almost methempshichotic star gaze wasn't a major turn on. But it was more than just desire and sensuality. It was praise and acknowledgment of how profound that woman was.

She smiled. She smiled in that way that made his mind drift to a swarm of majestic cranes heading to the pink blazing sunset. So real, so fragile, so beautiful and elegant, so uplifting and intangible. "Do you regret kissing me?"

"No. But I stole something from you that I wasn't entitled nor I deserve it."

"You haven't taking anything I wasn't willing to give." To prove her point she pressed her lips again to his, the passion was there, the skill was not, it didn't matter, it was meaningful, it was her heart talking, he listened and felt. She didn't move her lips, didn't know how, instincts she didn't have, but she was warm, soft and sweet. She just kissed him like a kiss between two children ,innocent and probing.

Before Sasuke had the chance to deepen their lip lock again and lead her, someone decided to conspire against them, because when they mutually decided to get emotional again, the door bell rung. They pulled apart quickly, all the chemistry starting to fade as questions started to form in the midst of their chests. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in the direction of the door, like trying to burn that damn bell down. "Are you expecting someone?" She asked in a whisper voice, unable to properly find her voice and breaths again.

Sasuke resisted the urge to cringe when he heard someone bang on his front door totally rolling his onyx eyes when he understand who exactly was interrupting their privacy. _"Uchiha, open this goddamn door or I am going to take it down with my brand new Vuitton heels!"_ Oh, God, he asked for a goddamn cake, not _her_!

"Unfortunately, I don't actually had a say in this-"

The next thing they knew, someone has blast the door, making it fly off its hinges. Sakura more than threw herself on Sasuke, while the said Uchiha swore he would do some permanent impalement. Out of all their friends, it had to be his female doppelganger.

"Naruto told me there is an emergency!"

"Hn. Ino."

"To the rescue!"

* * *

 **A/N: Why, I am definitely sorry for being in such a rush, but I am spending the New Year`s Eve at the mountain, so while getting ready to jump into the car, hit the ski resort and ski until I wouldn`t be able to walk straight -I am an addict and I know it- I am definitely struggle to post this chapter as a gift to all of you and take the chance to wish you all my readers a HAPPY NEW YEAR, TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES! Please be safe, stay healty and happy and...oh my I cannot believe I am saying this, but see you in the NEXT YEAR!**

 **I will definitely respond to all the reviews, I am sorry I do not have the time to do it, but I have read any and each of them and I just want to tell you guys that I truly love you, they amused me and made me happy and I am forever grateful, to all my readers.**

 **Later...**


	5. The other side of the Moon - Part I

**::CHAPTER V: The other side of the** moon **::**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **::** I thought I could read the **story** in your onyx eyes,

Your pain was a tangible **emotion** that I could define,

And that empowering feeling has gave me courage to venture farther into your **world** of demons,

But I was wrong in praising ETERNITY for something so gentle that only the passing TIME could grant:

The healing of all your **scars.**

There is so much turbulence bedeck those pulpy warm **lips** that you allowed me to  kiss,

There are long forgotten desperate **pleas** embroidered into the nocturnal filigree of your elegant  eyes,

And the implacable immixture of tenderness and euphoria elicited by your **fingertips** alone, Have successfully made me **blind** to the coldness of your warm embrace.

I failed to descry the **solitude** of darkness enveloping your bleeding **soul,**

Because you syphoned my world with incandescent solar light.

You can be darkness,

While you bathe into the sun.

Because you didn't want me to decipher the hardship and tumult in your **heart.**

Please, don't stray your heart`s call from me

My long lost forgotten love song

 _Amore…_

Don't hide those grieving tears of Autumn under the false pretense of Spring,

Because I am here to answer to your call,

While you will tenderly show me the **other side** **of the** scarred full **moon** ::

.

.

.

* * *

"So? Where is the emergency?" A stentorian self-reliant voice, ringing from the glitter silhouette of a staggering champagne haired blonde filled Sasuke`s airy living room, immixing into the metallic sonorous screech of broken hinges and immediately, a slim flute pink high heel clicked on the polished luscious floor, as a palm pushed the broken door into the wall beside.

Out of pure reflex, a startled Sakura almost jumped on Sasuke, who had a mild embrace around her slim waistline, fine raven eyebrows slant on the bridge of his nose, as Sasuke pinned the glamorous obnoxious intruder, with a stare soul piercing enough to let her know that the bravado was cheap, unwelcomed, unnecessarily and utterly annoying.

As no other than the avid fashionista of their mismatched group made her sizzling appearance into Sasuke`s home, Sakura let her jade orbs travel along the aura that the newcomer projected, blinking slowly twice and breathing her in, trying her best to be objective and pinpoint the dominant trait in that interesting woman`s character and the first thing that she learn about her, was the fine sense for details and exquisite aesthetics, for the platinum honey haired stunning Ino`s choice of portrayal was swaying on the fine line of provocative, but not in a deviant sultry way, in contradiction with Hinata`s scholastic bourgeois lunar appearance.

Every single article of the clothes she wore, starting from the bright lilac button up strapless Charmeuse silk shirt, following the elegant wine glass outline of her model body and enhancing the elegance of her delicate rounded bare rounded shoulders, let the feminine tantalizing accents fall on her slim long porcelain arms.

She was playing with the viewer`s mind with the mid cut outfit, which presented a sensual, but not vulgar vista of the silhouette of her toned violin shaped waist, as the long skirt, split on her right leg, was rippling down her waistband and voluptuous hips, in the same vibrant color of violets as her shirt, and stopping on her gazelle ankles, to offer a generous peek on the fancy Cinderella Jimmy Choo pumps.

It didn't require a genius insight to understand that the zesty original fashionista was a Vampire.

The effervescent contrast of her opaline fine complexion, was framing the shade of her radiant turquoise orbs, elegantly highlighted by a bold spectacular cat eye smokey make up, her flawless features emphasized the unnatural beauty of her flawless oval elegant face, high regal cheeks, kissed by a subtle rose shade and thin incarnadine rouged lips were typifying the elegance and refinement of an astonishing female Vampire.

The type that whipped heads around and earned gasps of adulation from men and envy or appreciation from the other women.

Ino _Yamanaka_ was gorgeous and her unique bright daring personality made her stand out and shine whenever she went and something assured Sakura that the woman had neither pardon nor reticence to express her inner thoughts.

"When have I turned into an emergency?" Sakura murmured to Sasuke, as her emerald orbs were following the march of the mysterious glamour platinum haired Vampires towards them, as all the fluttering from their splendid kiss washed away, shattering the intimacy between them.

Sasuke on the other hand, seemed as calm and unflappable as usual, only his ghost of a deep growl as he addressed her back, betrayed sheer annoyance. He was probably used to such outspoken behavior, having seen much worse, but just the mere figment of such occurrences being frequent was making Sakura wonder if those Vampires ever stopped moving. "She has always been eccentric."

In the back of his mind, Sasuke was being extremely pissed off and it took a lot of skill and practice to bring THE Uchiha Sasuke on the edge of exasperation, but Ino definitely had the necessary traits, for she had one particular sinful idiosyncratic drawback, that she was sharing with the dobe: they were both too extrovert for their own good.

 _Just what the hell was she doing in his house, disturbing his_ _kiss_ _with Sakura?!_

"You should have known better than to make a lady wait in your threshold, Sasuke!" Ino flicked her hand through her golden luscious hair, flipping it behind her bare shoulder, waltzing towards the owner of the home that she has just trespassed and his mysterious companion, eyes like the infinite azure all set on the pink haired blossom. She seemed to scurry closer to Sasuke taken aback –scared- by her, somehow laid back.

"As far as I remember, I didn't ask for another woman's presence." First chance he got, Sasuke would first bloody murder a certain _Uzumaki_ Naruto, for having him deal with the outspoken Ino Yamanaka and the overflow of glitter she brought along, already feeling his fingers itch to curl into a hard punch and his temples throb and pound, like a bass guitar.

And that opportunity would present pretty soon. The Uchiha just couldn't wait to ardently pummel the living daylights out of his –oh, Heavens, that word pained him in the chest- best friend, until he would consider it twice next time he entertained the idea of being funny and sent Ino to fuel her need for gossip and live from torturing him and meddling with his _personal_ life.

Because, for Christ`s sake, Ino LIVED for gossip! She would rather give up on blood completely –she was already on a 'diet' from blood- than survive without her hot pieces of steamy gossip about everyone and everything that moved, breathed, ate or even worse, had sex.

"Well that`s too bad that _presents_ doesn't have feet to walk by themselves to your door, you jerk." Through her porcelain clenched teeth, Ino spat right into the unfathomable Uchiha`s face, being totally unfazed by the Vampire she was addressing to, and that has been something that Sakura found absolutely admirable and striking: her femineity and delicacy was perfectly balancing the calloused independent tirade of chutzpa and intransigent personality.

Sasuke on the other hand, was pondering whether he should tarnish his reputation of a noble Vampire Prince and show the blonde the direction of the door she has just catapulted into his newly painted wall, and throw her ass outside, as Naruto would rudely put it, then but the presence of the petite frame of Sakura`s warm body, radiating under the palm he had slid around the curb of her lower back, made him push back such rough behavior and simply dripped to him, in his peculiar typical unruffled, yet adamant way, the blonde`s fitting fancy name. "Ino-"

"Move over, I want to see – Oh! By the goddess of holly malls and Vuitton shoes, you are so cute!" Totally undaunted by the Uchiha`s trailed hidden threat underneath the velvet way he rolled each syllable of her name, Ino proved to be her valiant spunky self and not so gently pushed the Uchiha aside, breaking the subtle and rather intimate and very PERSONAL contact with Sakura`s body, tossing him aside like she was disposing of an unpleasant piece of article that wasn't on her taste, and jolly stretched her hands to latch with a stunned Sakura`s ones, spewing glitter and rainbows from both her eyes and glossy rouged lips as she sang to her like a banshee emerging from a blue lagoon, during a starry night, baby blue aquamarine orbs gleaming like jewels. "I am Yamanaka Ino, you have no idea how glad I am to finally meet you!"

"Finally?" Sasuke didn't even try to prevent a smartass retort to form on his lips, slipping his hands inside his pockets, in that characteristically nonchalant way that vexed his interlocutors, faking surprise by curling a fine eyebrow up, much to the blonde Yamanaka heiress`s dismay. "You have just found out about her presence here."

 _With me._

"In the women's dictionary, it means a lot of precious time and stop damn interrupting me you cocky bastard!" What a totally unresponsive and unmoving Sakura found really staggering about Ino, was the versatility and spontaneity in flapping personalities.

She could turn from a feral blood thirst lioness, defending her territory, to a mesmerizing siren in a heartbeat, with the mastery of a famous actress, but her character was inspiriting, energetic and refreshing.

Ino whipped her head back from glaring daggers at a slightly amused Uchiha –Ino knew him well enough to realize that the bastard Vampire Prince was entertained by his mockeries, even without smirking in that annoying sexy way- to beam heartedly at Sakura, curled long rimmeled eyelashes fluttering like a dove`s wings. "Don't you worry girl, he's not that bad as he looks. Just a tad uptight since he is _sexually_ frustrated and has anger issues."

Putting all the overwhelming energy of that spunky and totally outgoing beautiful blonde aside, Sakura was confused about Ino`s choice of words, even though she clearly saw that the women in their group were permitted a lot of independency, plus that Ino character was probably a really close friend to Sasuke, since she wasn't reticent in calling him names and taunt him back.

The midnight haired Uchiha Prince was anything but withdrawn and edgy, though hearing Ino casually place him among the modern teens in search for identity, was funny and almost made her giggle.

Then, she started her outburst again, focusing on the rosette`s very avant garde appearance, clearly flashing before her principles of art and vogue. "Oh my God! Is that hair color natural? You can never get that shade in any salon!"

"It is natural, though I don't find it to be such an amazing thing…" If only Ino knew how many times she has been ridiculed for the bubblegum shade and the unexpected exotic looks, but apparently, it was very popular among vampires.

 _Of course,_ _freaks_ _by nature, just like her…_

"What are you saying, it is absolutely perfect and so stylish and fancy!"

"I am not running a hotel here, Ino." Before the aforementioned baby blued eyed female Vampire had the chance to inquire more about the expressive appearance of the radiating cherry blossom and her involvement with the leader of their small group, the Uchiha found it funny to remind her in his own subtle polite way, that she should scurry the hell out of there, because the lingering chemical charged tension sizzling between the two of them, like dew drops in a warm April morning, assured her that she came as an intruder and shattered whatever _activity_ they were engaged into.

Ino wasn't stupid nor oblivious and if there was someone between their gang who truly read through the lines of romance transpiring between people or Vampires, it was the blonde introspective Yamanaka, and her skill to pinpoint their _emotions_ and thoughts, had nothing to do with her inborn affinity to use her own family`s hidden Techniques and telepathic abilities.

From the very first moment when she collided with the stillness and suspicious silence of a living room occupied by two inhabitants, who have just met, her inquisitive keen orbs flew on Sasuke and Sakura, who looked like they were embracing and ventured in a very romantic kiss.

Yes, judging by the flushed roses filled cheeks of Sakura and the way Sasuke has refused to lose contact with her closeness, proving it that he wasn't afraid to be caught showing affection and prove it to all of them –his nagging annoying obsessed friends- that he was ready to _move on_ and find himself a woman, they have clearly kissed.

And that made her overjoyed and hyperactive because she, just like Naruto, was constantly pestering Sasuke to open up more and chase after the ladies, until he found someone to love him and share his bed in his moments of solitude –mostly magical nights- it being the main reason why both the blondes have conspired and plotted together, dragging his ass to every single party, waiting for the unthinkable to happen.

And her first glance on Sakura assured Ino that, by a fortunate flip of destiny, the lonely Uchiha handsome heir has hit the jackpot. The mysterious young woman had a very distinctive, tropical appearance, but nonetheless, what shined brightly about her overall aura, was her innocence, the angelic purity and ineffable femineity and tonic energy. Totally NOT like all the other women that Sasuke has been with, his fiancé included.

Yes, Ino absolutely despised that woman with burning passion for playing with his heart and throwing him into the oasis of broken hearts and mistrust in women in general.

She wasn't even interested in her own version of the story or her point of view, because fueling a man`s hopes and expectations in vain, was unforgivable. To a woman like Ino, it was either she loved him or left him, without taking it too far, until they passed a point of no return.

Plus, there was one detail that assured Ino about the deeper connection between Sasuke and the mystery girl, Sakura, despite him welcoming him into his home, namely the fine astonishing piece of jewelry embellishing her slim neck.

Ino was an expert and an avid fan of precious gemstones and precious metals, so she knew that _not_ just anyone would afford to buy such a necklace.

Not only it amazed and stole breaths away with the elegance, refinement, taste and pattern, the mastery behind it shining in all its splendor, but the _price_ was also mind blowing, so it was clearly a gift from Sasuke to her for her birthday party.

But… receiving such a present from a _Vampire_ , wasn't having the same meaning as being offered by an ordinary man, no. If she was to take the meaning of the gesture literarily, in the most traditional conservatory dogmatic code of the Immortals` way, then offering a woman a piece of jewelry, be it a bracelet, earrings or a necklace, meant offering his heart too. To put it simply, it was reminiscent to mortals` established practice of wearing _engagemen_ t rings to portray the **claim** on each other, which would ultimately lead to holy _matrimony._

Which only left Ino with one big question mark floating above her head, on a puff cloud: Was Sasuke _insane_?! He couldn't be possibly thinking to _marry_ Sakura, could he?

The raven haired Uchiha wasn't JUST a vampire, even if his group of friends were all being bound to their folklore and culture, despite their modernist and liberal doctrines, he was the current Leader`s of the Vampire Reign son and only successor! The _Crown_ Prince of the Vampires! Was Sasuke planning on making Fugaku fume and loathe him even more, by pressing the ultimate sensitive button?

Ino was beaming with pride and clapping at his guts, totally supporting him. The hell with Uchiha Fugaku and the other loser Vampires who supported him! Good for Sasuke to have the will-power and headstrongness to stay so resolute in his ideals and convictions.

But it didn't mean that she would bow to his 'Majesty' and give up to her imposing independent and acid bickering with Sasuke. They were after all, really good childhood _friends_.

"Hmpf, definitely not. You get at least a decent room service in a hotel room." She injected sternly, scoffing her nose in his direction, returning her gaze to Sakura, amazed by how angelic and beautiful that young woman, who couldn't be more than twenty four really was. Where has Sasuke found someone like her?

 _Straight from_ _Cupid`s_ _realm, on Valentine`s Day, most likely._ Her entire radiance was typifying love and chaste honey kisses, in Ino`s view. It was almost sweet and totally cute to see that cherub, who looked so lost, similar to a star falling from the sky, seeking for a source of light to reflect, in the embrace of someone like Sasuke Uchiha.

The _discrepancy,_ the contrast between light and twilight, the innocent color of pure virgin **pink,** emblazoning the first steps to womanhood, intertwined with unfathomable bottomless pure **black** , the resolute and absolute symbol of royal manhood and sensual virility, they were picture perfect together, a dance of contrasts.

"You must be _the_ Sakura I have heard about! Oh. My. God! Look at you, you are so beautiful! Oh, and that hair is totally so fashion, I love the color! It matches your bright green eyes!" Still having a firm rhapsodic hold of Sakura`s hands, Ino carried on with her overjoyed tirade, flailing and spitting rainbows from her mouth, enthusiastically.

Sakura could vehemently see the contempo touch in Ino`s proclivities and the penchant and affinity for modern, with clashed with the foreseeable conservatory Vampire dominant trait.

She was lustrous in her studied and tasteful glamorous world, and her liberal, insouciant and solar character -very reminiscent to Naruto`s easygoing demeanor- was making her resemble pure warm light and appear as very approachable.

"Ahm… thank… you?" From the corner of her viridian orbs, Sakura took the liberty to peeped at Sasuke who had an indecipherable look on his face but the gleam inside his onyx orbs assured her that he was gravely biting back a harsh retort, visibly bothered by the clearly unexpected visitor, which was a funny thing to witness, because a rather cornered Sasuke, compelled to make compromises and be polite to the ladies, was really amusing.

"Ino, drop it. You are scaring her, you troublesome woman." A very apathetic masculine voice popped from the behind of a big colorful wrapped box that the owner was carrying, letting himself inside, not only after gazing at the broken door and the hole in the wall, completely unfazed like such occurrences were really common happenings amidst their group, carrying on with his mutterings. "She is already giving me headaches."

 _Shikamaru_ idly shuffled inside Sasuke`s flat, pushing the requested delivery on a mini round decorated table looking like he was cursing under his breath, as Ino hollered to the straggling genius.

"Hurry up, you lazy ass! We don't have all night, jeez. I have classes at first hours in the morning and I don't want Kakashi on my head!"

The tall man with an interesting individual hairstyle, crayoned into a messy high ponytail, reminiscent to a pineapple, wearing a mantle of indifference on his perspicacious face, mumbled right back to her, and unlike Sasuke, that one had no problems in vocalizing what was running through his mind. "If you are in such a hurry, then why don't you push it in yourself?"

"Are you insinuating that a _lady_ should do a man's job?" Immediately, Ino`s equally solar kissed fine eyebrows narrowed to slits, shooting him a doom glare, like she has been visibly insulted. Sakura was observing the interaction between the mysterious new male and the radiant Yamanaka, with much interest, trying to depict each one`s character. "What kind a man are you?'

"One that is being overly abused."

"HA! Then why don't you call _Greenpeace_ and complain to someone who really cares? Put it there, in the kitchen." Ino sternly instructed, as Shikamaru brought the cake into the adjacent kitchen, addressing something incomprehensive to the Uchiha, who nodded back at him, clearly teaming up as the abused males into the room, but Ino paid them no mind, turning to sing to Sakura, like a nightingale.

"You will just love it! Mom and I personally did the decorations." Although, the rosy haired Sakura had no idea of what she was talking about, it promised to be something good, flashy and tasteful since it came from Ino, so anticipation bloomed inside her. So far, those two days were comprised in a single heartbeat and she came to know that Sasuke had very interesting acquaintances.

Shikamaru slide his unhurried feet to bring his shadow to rest beside an equally stoic Sasuke, but the lazy genius of the group was positive of the fact that the Uchiha was pissed off and totally not impressed by Ino`s tumultuous appearance, but it wasn't like the Nara heir had a choice.

She absolutely stormed into his own house, not so gentle, namely swaying through the window of his bedroom, making it shatter and, not once concerned over the embarrassing situation she found him into when just stepping out of the shower, she dragged his ass to Sasuke`s penthouse, not once removing the cotton flashy latest phone from her ear, talking to Heaven knows who about a birthday cake and _'Oh. Em. Gee! Sasuke has a girlfriend!'_ it being the only reason why he indulged into turning into her servant… again. "Damn troublesome woman is making my head bleed."

Sasuke simply nodded in conformation, thankful for Shikamaru accompanying her to try and temper her even for a bit, but of course that Ino had eyes at the back of her head and a keen hearing that totally caught the rude gossip about her, so she swiftly spun on her fancy high heels, like a smooth artful ballerina, to glare at them.

"Aish! Stop being a lazy bum and move them legs! You just don't make ladies wait, this is totally rude!" She then returned her attention to Sakura to brief her about the abhorrence of having such boring specimens into their contradistinctive group. "Don't mind these guys dear, they are _definitely_ the most monotonous from our peers. I am Ino Yamanaka!"

"Haruno… Sakura. Nice to meet you, Ino."

"Aww, you are totally kawaii! I can TOTALLY see why _he_ likes you!" Sasuke faked an awkward cough as Sakura turned blazing red like the sun at dawn in embarrassment, hearing Ino`s bold affirmation, biting her lower lip and dropping her chin to the polished floor, fighting against the need to camouflage the flush on her cheeks and the truth amassed into her apostate viridian orbs.

Honestly hearing it from someone else had the scouted revealing effect on her which Ino totally caught from the beginning: something very personal ensued between Sasuke and Sakura, before she rudely interrupted him, catching them in the act.

"This brooding person here," The charismatic platinum blonde cocked her head to Sasuke, talking casually about his persona like he wasn't even present in the room. "Is even more introvert and emo than his own _shadow_. But you my dear, are a ray of _light_! Ah, let`s be BFFs!"

She casually tucked a surprised Sakura in an unforeseen bear hug, which she couldn't help but return, because, even though Ino was being very extrovert and blasting in all her glamorous extravagant way, she was being very honest and easygoing. Like a _sister_ that Sakura never had and that thought alone, brought a candid smile on her lips.

"Oh?" She was surprised but the blondes happy-go-lucky personality was really contagious and warm. "Ok, ok, just… let me breathe first, please." Of course, it didn't change the fact that Ino was choking her and it was in that moment when Sakura realized that the beautiful Ino was really strong.

"Oh? I am sorry." She immediately grew conscious of her own Vampire strength and loosened her embrace, but still kept a light touch over Sakura`s shoulders, tucking out her tongue and giggling like a schoolgirl, plucking sun flowers. "I just tend to get a little bit enthusiastic from time to time, hehe."

 _Only from time to time?_ The same thought has just strike Shikamaru and Sasuke`s mind, both having similar inscrutable poker-faced expressions waltzing over their figures, but they didn't voice it out loud, because Heavens might forbid them angering Ino Yamanaka further.

She might even go as far as to call _Tenten_ for back up and only monstrous horrifying things would happen to certain _anatomies_ parts if they went against their feminist movement.

"It`s ok, I am just not… used to have… so many people around me. Or… Vampires." She didn't want to sound completely loser- _ish_ but Sakura opted for a honest approach, since she truly wished to not be impolite with Sasuke`s friends and truly befriend all of them, Ino included. But cognizance stirred within Ino as her cobalt blue orbs fluttered wide, visibly taken aback by Sakura`s revelation.

"Y-You mean… you are _human_? Not a Vampire?! Really?!" She didn't see it coming, not in a million years and suddenly, very interesting things were fueling Ino`s bottomless tank of wisdom in terms of romance.

Sakura was human, just like - _Oh. My. God!_ Suddenly, everything has just gotten more stirring.

"Well, yes. Sorry."

"Oh no, don't be sorry for such an uni-" Then out of nowhere, another outrageous thing has bolted down Ino`s mind as she whipped her head over her shoulder, to shoot lasers towards Sasuke, hands possessively thrown around Sakura`s shoulders, as she was trying to consulate her for some really important loss.

"Don't tell me he uses you for **blood** or to fuel his deprived perverted fantasies, because so help me God, Uchiha, I will personally _castrate_ you and feed your balls to those dirty half-breeds, if I hear you went as far as to lay a finger on her!"

Oh, the way she reviled as her pearl lucent teeth were clattering, was enough to melt rocks and freeze an entire room, because, when Ino Yamanaka was furious, she gave another meaning to the word corybantic and menacing.

Her usually warm azurite orbs turned seething and seeping with vile intent, and, have it been someone else in the Uchiha`s place, that person would have been virtually dead and gone, but the onyx eyed Vampire before her remained his annoyingly benumbed self to the blonde`s threats, fighting the urge to snort at her attempts to be challenging. It worked for losers like Naruto or Choji, but definitely NOT someone like Sasuke, or Shikamaru, who was yawning uncontrollably beside him.

Sasuke felt the itch to punch his face and give him a round of wake up calls.

If Sasuke had the audacity to transgress their sworn code of _never_ relying on human blood, only when absolutely necessarily and, instead, nourish from the replenishing blood pills that the Hyugas strive to brand among the Vampires, then he would be automatically be labeled as _a persona non grata_ amidst their group and be punished for the infringement of their most sacred rule: do _not_ disrepute their cause by considering the mortals inferior to them and only worth of drinking their blood.

It was exactly the epitome of wrongdoing in infringing the very foundation of their principles and dogmas, it being fighting against the vampires` innate habits and sins, which wouldn't be tolerated among the world they were aiming to create, when shouting it out loud to anyone that they wanted peace to be achieved through cooperation, love, respect and mutual understanding, but at the same time, killing people by having their bloods filling the throats of the thirsty vampires –the ones they were supposed to trust- was unpardonable, be it form an ordinary vampire, or the next in line Prince himself.

"Actually, he was very kind with me, so-"

"Oh no no _no_ honey," Ino interrupted Sakura`s weak murmur and attempt to side with Sasuke, leading her towards the kitchen like a good willed protective lioness with her cubs, shaking her head at her, where Shikamaru has conveniently placed the small fancy pink table with the boxy resting atop of it, silently asking the lazy Nara for a lighter in that 'polite humble' peculiar way, namely narrowing her baby blue eyes at him, 'advising' him to keep his mouth shut because they will never hear the end of her ranting.

"That one Uchiha Prince there," her tone was mocking and somehow playful, but her resolute intimidating peril still lingered in her husky expressive voice. "Is a master of _deceiving_. But no worries dear, because now you are _officially_ part of our gang of totally independent, strong and ridiculously fancy girls that no one will dare _mess_ with."

Unfortunately –for the guys- Ino wasn't joking. Really, whoever knew of the famous _Konoha Uni._ _'Sirens'_ and knew what was good for them, wasn't crossing paths or breathed towards them in the wrong disrespectful way, because if they weren't having their lives made miserable by Ino, who could sprout the most compromising embarrassing gossip about just anyone and ruin their reputation or chances to hook up with someone decent in the next thirty lives, then Tenten would definitely use her impressive traditional Japanese and Thai collection of weapons and chop off their bodies, in the most ingenious artistic way possible, that would make trained skillful vampires crawl in dread.

During the centuries, but mostly the recent technological outbreak and the modern times and college years, Ino, Tenten and Hinata, who was a solid pillar and a well-versed eloquent silent supporter and, recently, Sabaku _no_ Temari, have constructed an eminent notoriety and their fame of being unperturbed from their ideology and adamancy in giving up living by the bloody vice standards of their Vampire ancestors and start anew, guided by a friendlier and compromising drive, and it was a fame they were struggling to preserve.

Ino was always experimenting with vegan and vegetarian recipes and tried on mind blowing radical diets, in order to trick her system into thinking that he has been rewarded with the much anticipated human blood, trying her best to go on a blood less 'diet', coaxing the girls and boys to try it over, dreaming of seeing the light of the day when she would be free from that addiction. To her, it was the typified expression of being completely free to spread her wings and soar.

Free from the cluster of her Immortal peers, who were degrading the regal reputation they were trying to preserve, by not being able to be abstinent with their yen for blood. So what if her powers would weaken without consuming human vital red fluids regularly? She just had to find a way to conjure more energy and take it from something else.

During the centuries, their group has undergone numerous experiments and the experiences weren't always pleasant. In fact, they swayed more on the abhorred and disgusting side, having moments when they would taste _animal_ blood, but the different structure, the typical unparalleled human energy, the soul, the nutrients, the life pulsating within, couldn't be _equaled_ by anything similar.

And the animal which proved to have the closest set of genes to human blood was no other than the famous _Rhesus macaque_ , the monkey which helped with the discovery of the famous _Rh factor system_ in human red cells antigens.

But it wasn't like they had the possibility to go and hunt down all the aforementioned monkeys and live on their blood, that was just ridiculous. So naturally, they were forced to rely on the pills that Neji`s family has created, in collaboration with Nara family`s longtime genius medical research, until the medical development would permit the researchers to successfully test artificial human blood, made in laboratory and solve their problem once and forever.

The Yamanaka, Nara and Hyuga clans were secretly syphoning money into the research of artificial blood, to the top researchers from reputed universities all around the world, to speed up the process, but of course, they were keeping it a well hidden secret from Uchiha _Fugaku_ and his supporters, who were calling it a sacrilege and a disgrace to the Vampires.

Albeit, even if they were basically forced to starve and refrain from having human blood, living on the pills as much as their bodies could take it and permit them to run a normal Vampire life and not appear weak in theirs brethren critique disapproving eyes, Sasuke had no reasonable excuse to secretly try to betray the vow they all made and make it easier for him, by bewitching Sakura into allowing him to drink her blood for free, until she would die.

 _Heck no!_

The ebony eyed Uchiha on the other hand, was well aware of what was traipsing into Yamanaka`s mind, her stare speaking more than a thousand words, but he had no reason to explain the _promise_ made between Sakura and him, because his private life was no one else`s property, plus, he was not disobeying the pledge.

He has sworn to himself to refrain from drinking Sakura`s blood, until he would go on the level of insanity and even used the _injection_ instead of the pills which were starting to have lower and lower effect, just to moderate his thirst and need to dig his fangs on her neck.

The fact that he ended up _kissing_ her instead, was a complete other story, but that also wasn't infringing the rules that he and Naruto created, to serve as a pattern for their movement. His train of thoughts was cut short by Sakura`s nightingale tune.

"This sounds interesting, but how do I qualify as one of you, since I am clearly so under your level?" Not to mention that her eyelids were fluttering and felt heavier and steel like, since the rosette was more than tired.

But she quickly came to the realization that Vampires weren't having the same circadian cycle as humans and clearly their energy and vitality was on a league of their own.

Probably, they could go on for weeks without hitting the pillow, but she on the other hand, was being overwhelmed by the last two very eventful days, which resembled the electrical tumult of a carousel ride.

It was jolly, unthinkable, she still lived through a fairytale, not believing that she wasn't dead, but fatigue was getting to her. It was 23:00 p. m. and her internal clock was ticking the seconds that begged for a good sleep.

The Vampires around her on the other hand, were fresh, tonic and beautiful, looking like they have just woken up, took a fresh cold shower and served an appetizing energizing breakfast.

At least, that was how they were portrayed before her oblivious emerald orbs, because little did she know that it was only a good _trick_ and a clever skillful orchestrated façade, since, except from Sasuke, Shikamaru and Ino claimed a record among their group for abstaining from having human blood for a month and a half and they could feel the languidness overwhelm them. Shikamaru was smartly wrapping his fatigue under the distinctive ennui.

Soon enough, they would have to visit the hospital`s blood bank… again. Because Ino would rather die than drink off a man or –God forbids- woman`s neck or wrist. The mere idea was so repulsive that it made her innards squirm in disgust.

"Oh, that`s nonsense! We don't have this… Vampire _ego_ and bravado like the others from our reign. This is totally not something fancy and we don't consider ourselves superior to humans and besides, you could have fooled me, Sakura honey!"

Ino was quick on her intervention, patting the rosette on her shoulder in a reminiscent sisterly way, not wanting to take a no for an answer.

"You are even more _beautiful_ than most of the other female Vampires sluts. Seriously! So how did you guys met? Tell me it was something romantic and totally stylish!"

The introspective way her baby blue hues glittered and flashed little minion heart shapes, made Sakura avert her jadeite jewels from her –feeling that Ino could bore into her very soul and read underneath, in a similar way that Sasuke did- to rest on the Uchiha before her, silently inviting him to either tell the truth or create a less depressing and lame background story between them, mumbling.

"He... saved my life... well kind of-" For the love of God, committing suicide has been the smartest idea that Sakura ever had, but why did it sound like the vilest sin she has ever committed after meeting Sasuke`s friends? She suddenly felt so dumb and wanted nothing more than to go back to the past and never repeat that asinine gesture ever again.

 _But she would have never met Sasuke to begin with, if she wouldn't have been the right woman on the right place…_ Even if 'right' might seem a little bit forced into the context, since she was on the verge of ending her own life, it was so worth it in her mind.

 _He is worth of every sacrifice…_

"Really? Oh. My. God! You were her dark knight in a shiny armor! Prince Charming or something totally cliché and romantic like this! This is so stylish!" No, by any means, it wasn't the gesture itself the thing that had Ino squeal and flail like she has discovered a Shopping Mall the size of Planet Mars, for the Uchiha has saved numerous lives before.

It was the fact that he rescued a _woman_ with the intention of _keeping her_ by his side and even invited her to _live_ with him, the things that had her mentally do a happy dance.

The most logical consequent question was already whirling into the golden haired Yamanaka`s head: _what_ was that diacritic minutiae that made Sakura be so _exclusive_ in Sasuke Uchiha`s eye and conjure him to so openly accept her, if not for her blood and beauty? Was he attracted to her for a specific trivia that Ino couldn't begin comprehend?

Naruto _surely_ knew what was that about, she should just give Hinata a call and force the truth out of her mouth! Ino was dying to know about what kind of formidable mystical features abode inside that woman, with the most exotic peculiarity ,in order to catch the eye of someone with Sasuke`s fancy for aesthetics and critique overview over everything. Surely, the looks and the overwhelming aura of innocence was a magnet to any man, be it vampire or human, but it had to be something _more_ exclusive and deeper than that.

A mystifying connection between the two of them, veiled by the intimacy that both seemed to share. They have just met two days ago and Sasuke already welcomed Sakura inside his home –he _never_ brought a woman into his new home, since he broke up with his fiancé and left the Uchiha residence- and offered her an expensive gift, which portrayed a lifetime promise of becoming her _husband_ someday, according to the ancient Code of Vampires and folklore.

 _What was going on?_

Sakura… Haruno was definitely more than just a young pure woman, with a stunning appearance and a suspicious dramatic background. Ino could just feel it, although she couldn't pinpointed it. But judging from Sasuke`s resolute unfazed stare, she was positive that he knew about her, though she wasn't certain that it was _that_ the reason why he saved her life.

 _Who is this woman?_

And of course, he just had to crush the building romantic tension with his next flat statement, being so man-like –dumb to the core and have the delicacy of an elephant in a china shop. "Frankly, I was dead _drunk_."

It took Ino a nanosecond to switch the bulb of light to amass off bubbling fury, punishing Sasuke for his totally _not_ fortunate choice of words, by impaling her merciless lustrous slim high heel into Sasuke's feet, until she was certain that she felt it pierce his skin and aimed for the bone. "You inconsiderate asshole! This was totally unstylish! What kind of gentleman are you?"

Instead of flinching and wincing out in pain –that woman was insane, eccentric and knew the definition of pain and how to inflict it, by metamorphosing everything into a lethal weapon, damn her- Sasuke simply hissed like a ferocious Cobra, while Shikamaru fought the need to snort at his friend and the comical unfolding of events.

Sakura looked like a mini replica of an elf, by the way the lobes of her ears were embellished by a cute rose color, out of embarrassment. "One that will have you kicked out for abusing the intimacy of my home and my patience."

"I am telling Tennie that you were rude to the ladies and I will have her chop off your testicles and feed you with them! You know how much she enjoys torturing jerks."

"Ino..."

She casually brushed him off like it was nothing, waiving her hand up in the air, scoffing and turned to beam at Sakura, flipping her attitude in a heartbeat, but the jadeite eyed human, trapped in the middle of the really diacritic small group of vampires started to get accustomed to their banters.

"You will fit perfectly in our crazy cool fabulous group, I`m telling you, girl. And you will just love the others, they are all crazy!" Sakura sweat dropped at the blonde`s confession already envisioning how the other might be if they resembled Ino and Naruto even for a bit, albeit the Yamanaka heiress was definitely tonic and friendly.

She turned to scoff at Sasuke and Shikamaru who had deadpan intertwined expressions making them look like twins. "Minus those two here, who are always such party poppers."

"Ahm… I… ah… thank you for the trust and credit…?" Frankly, Sakura didn't actually know what to say in order to not appear rude or conceited. Ino was a ray of light, unwithered and colorful, her vivacious energy was peaches-and-cream just as her vitality was contagious and exhilarating, being extremely honest in befriending her and not mimicking politeness, out of respect for someone who was acquainted to Sasuke, and in need to not disrepute him and their friendship first. She was honest and that thought alone was making Sakura smile.

"Oh, don't be so formal, we have enough of this with Sasuke and Neji. See, this is why everyone _always_ mocks us for still living like in the 17th century. Loosen up a lil` bit, ok?"

It was not that Ino had a particular problem with Neji or Sasuke`s conservatory manner of conduct and talking, but, seriously, going to a club of partying modern people, who spurted slangs just like they were syphoning fancy alcohol and their colloquial teenage language, with two hotties who were talking like torn from a traditional English novel, was such a cramping of style and ruined her chances to flirt and hook up hot men. They were no fun. "Now let`s properly celebrate you, shall we?"

"O-Okay?" Sakura allowed an enthusiastic Ino to gently push her back to the front, as they made a semi-circle around the table, urging her to unwrap the cute pink ribbon atop the package which Sakura did, curious as what did they have in stock for her and why were they all making such a fuss over something as unimportant as her _birthday._

What she didn't know, was the fact that it was very symbolic to Sasuke's group –and vampires in general- because, for a human whose life was finite, it was the representation of _aging_ and acquiring wisdom from getting _older_ , but to an Immortal, it was meaningless and utterly irrelevant and it was exactly that _linkage_ to their _human side_ the one that Ino and her group of Vampires were trying to cling to, so yes, it was very dear and important to them.

"I have no idea of what flavors you like, but I know for a fact that _no_ woman can resist _chocolate_." She opened up the box and Sakura couldn't help herself but smile brightly at the appetizingly delicious looking loaf.

A two tier cake, entirely covered in white chocolate, offering it a more modern frilly touch, instead of the dark chocolate traditional ones, with a golden band swaddled around the base and embellished with petite charming bouquets of cherry flowers made of strawberry fondant, all complimented by the two pastel pink candles representing the numbers of her age, which Ino quickly lighted up, with a lighter she received from Sasuke.

The moment the flickering of the delicate candles burst like the gleam of her viridian irises, Sakura crossed her hands upon her racing heart, fatigue and exhaustion from the tumultuous eventful day being long forgotten as _another_ pleasant sentiment, which she hasn't felt in ages overwhelmed her senses and her chest filled with a radiating warmth, which was projected on her enlighten features.

She listened to the way Ino happily started to sing the conventional _'Happy Birthday'_ song, in a perfectly harmonized charming voice, the strong jolly vocals filling the tranquil space and Sakura`s eardrums.

Being completely absorbed into the picturesque image of the beautifully decorated cake and the ripples of the dancing flames, she failed to notice the subtle shove in the ribs that Shikamaru got from the filigree blonde as an impulse –and a firm threat- to open up his damn lazy mouth and damn _sing,_ or else-

The bright scholastic Nara representative bit back a vicious _'Auch, damn woman'_ which he knew she telepathically conveyed to him, in order not to ruin the moment and, reluctantly complied with the request, but instead of looking like the delighted new girl in the town, he let his inquisitive orbs shuffle to the Uchiha beside him, shifting an eyebrow in surprise.

While Ino cheerfully let her obvious singing skills shine and let the high suave notes fly out of her mouth like she was a nightingale in a golden cage, Shikamaru mumbled more out of respect for a lady and not wanting to ruin the harmonization and the flow of the song, because he was completely and embarrassingly tone deaf.

Even worse than Naruto, but the cheerful idiot took much pride for the credit of being the clown of the group, completely unperturbed of making a fool of himself.

There was another point of interest he could peep at, namely Sasuke beside him, who could do better at singing than him –way better even- but he was busying himself by being absorbed by the celebrated rosette.

He arched a fine eyebrow at Uchiha`s questionable behavior, not quite comprehending the reason why was he _that_ entrapped by Sakura, who wasn't even facing him. Since when was Sasuke _admiring_ a picturesque image of a woman?

Yes, he wasn't an oblivious fool either and Shikamaru totally observed how very special Sakura really was and her beauty was only counterbalanced by her bright warm personality and delicacy.

But she was also very insecure and circumspect with strangers, similar to how Hinata was, clearly not used to be sociable, albeit she was doing her best to be polite. Her character was puzzling Shikamaru, but he too found the reminisces with Sasuke`s introvert personality very funny and coincidental.

He suspected that Sakura was coming from a problematic family and didn't have many friends to begin with, but she definitely wasn't a harlot who was looking for Sasuke`s money, or lusted over him.

 _Interesting._

But still… not once has he removed his onyx orbs from her face. What was crossing on his mind in that moment, and why was he that focused on her, was still a mystery for Shikamaru.

Sasuke on the other hand, was absolutely unable to peel his ebony eyes off Sakura. His trained eyes for details was allowing him to breathe her in in all the beauty of her splendor and the girl with the eyes like crystals, was radiating of an untouched grace.

She was absolutely ravishing; angelic even, like a sylph of nature, emblazoning a divine femineity and an elegance, with the help of a shimmering smile alone.

He just couldn't believe how gorgeous she truly was. The fulgurating scintillations entrapped within her foliate eyes, were mirroring the gentle lazy pastel ritzy decorated flickering of the candles that she was starting at. The dancing limbs of fire percolated along the swells of her rose kissed cheeks and wrapped her features into a mystical aureate glow of light, making her sparkle even more, like a cricket.

Moist lips dancing into a perfect loving smile were keeping his onyx eyes interlaced to her beam, and, for a moment, just for one tiny moment… he felt his _heartbeat_ take another harmony, and it was making is chest warm and frizzy. Her kiss… by all the Heavens above, it was one of the best kisses that Sasuke ever give to a woman.

So soft, so velvet and rich, so heavenly sweet and succulent, she felt and tasted like the select succulence of ambrosia. Sasuke wanted for nothing more than to kick Shikamaru and Ino out of his home, curl his fingers into the veil of her silk hair and slam his lips against her in another breathless kiss.

Would she possibly allow him to kiss her _again_?

She cupped those appetizing lips he was fantasizing about in a cute heart shape and eagerly blew upon the candles, as they clapped and cheer for her.

"Happy birthday, dear!" Ino was expeditious to throw her arms around her and wrap the rosette with a sisterly tight hug which she returned, but Ino was full of surprises, for the sneaky azurite eyed seductive vampire placed a golden bag in her arms -one that she had hidden behind her back. "Here!"

A present that she _personally_ handpicked for Sakura, with all her love and a fancy short note from Shikamaru and her, and a neatly italic writing adorned with hearts and flowers and a honest 'Happy Birthday, Sakura' written on it.

"Thank you so much, I…" Sakura was at loss of phrases to express her gratitude and tears were pooling into her shimmering emerald eyes. She felt like crying of _happiness_ -for the first time in forever, it wasn't tears of sadness and rancor amassing within her orbs- and she didn't know how to react.

All those Vampires were so friendly and kind to her and she didn't know how to respond and what to say. So far, no one has ever done something similar to her. Heck, they didn't even acknowledge her presence and while she got the attention of the people, it was mostly acerbity and animus.

"I don't… know how to properly thank you all for your kindness. This is… no one has ever done something similar for me before."

She tucked a lock around her ear, in a gesture that betrayed her lack of experience with having friends to care for her, visibly troubled about what to say and what not to, in order to not do something to wrong them, opting not to face their eyes –she was purposely avoiding Sasuke because his stare was something that did… _things_ to her system- but heartedly cuddled the present into her chest, smiling and looking at the cake. "I don't deserve all of this and honesty, it is more than I can…"

Never in her life has such thoughts knocked to her mind, she didn't know what to say, despite her eloquence and rather educated humble character, she was beyond overwhelmed by the cute gestures of, not only Ino and Shikamaru, but Naruto and Hinata as well, her heart was flickering like those candles that were standing as a token of the age that… two days ago, they would have been utopic and one year _shorter_ , and her heart jittered with a pleasant fluttering.

Soft steady thumps, like jingling like the petals of the soft bell flowers in spring, caressed by the wind, flapped the rhythm of her heart and Sakura couldn't deny that she felt… _warm_ and light and surrounded by colors.

Hence the tears she was holding back, because she didn't want the moment to be dramatic and depressing.

Honestly, if Sakura were to _die_ right then, she would feel utterly content; because she was granted the privilege to know the definition of such joy and take the memories of those loving warm, genial and sympathetic sentiments wither, around those vampires who were welcoming her like one of them, without showing the shadow of their dismay. She would die with _no_ regret.

They were showering her with feelings that she didn't have the chance to learn the meaning of: friendship, devotion, affection, care and warmth. Those people came to Sasuke`s home, by the call of Naruto, despite the late hour and went as far as to bring her a present along with their open feelings of amity and sweet honest words.

To someone as insignificant as Sakura, it meant the world. Those two days of her life, encompassed the loss of the years she lived in misery and hardship. It was enough and more than she could ask for.

And of course, the observant Vampire beside her read everything into the heart she was wearing on her sleeve, like enfolding an ancient scroll, written in a language they could understand and felt pity for the rosette, but of course, they didn't venture to express it.

"Oh, don't be so modest, Sakura, it kills the charm of a woman." Ino nictated in a suggestive way, trying to silently let Sakura know that no one was judging her nor did they considered her to be less amazing, just because of her lower social status. Also, her nimble baby blue orbs have seen the cursory exchange of glances between Shikamaru and Sasuke.

The charcoal eyed Uchiha briefly let his head fall askew on his shoulder, shifting his onyx orbs to Sakura, without her to notice it and then left them shuffle back to an understanding Ino, letting out an invisible nod.

Ino grasped their secret _message_ , singing to Sakura in her peculiar buoyant way.

"How about we, the girls, do some midnight shopping, hm? What do you say?" She proposed to Sakura, who let her emerald orbs naturally travel to the clock on the wall, taking in the late hour. It was, indeed _midnight_. Even though she was beat tired, the Vampires amassed around her were beaming with an electrical energy, looking totally refreshed.

Did they even sleep? She knew from Sasuke that mostly gave up on that human habit completely, while some used it to replenish their energy –though it didn't make much of a difference- or simply rested after some… other late nocturnal _activities_ they did.

She on the other hand, was silently crying for that inviting pillow, knowing that she needed to wake up in the morning and knock on the Chancellor`s Office door and enroll to Konoha University.

"I, well… ahm… I am a little tired and-" Oh dear, how should she refuse those Vampires who were been all sugar and honey to her so far? Sakura didn't mean to offend them, she would sincerely _love_ to experience shopping with friends, but not exactly… in that very moment. She would have enjoyed being able to at least keep her orbs open and preferably not fall asleep in a changing room.

"Oh, c`mon girl, you will have plenty of time to sleep when you are older, but until then, lets enjoy our teenage days!" The blonde waited no second to hook their arms, playfully bumping Sakura`s shoulder, singing to her and for a moment, Sakura was stunned at how casual and… human that Ino acted, like she was not an Immortal to begin with. "Besides, I can bet you didn't have time to shop for _toiletries_ , right?"

Ok, she got her there. Sakura didn't get the chance to buy them and stop using Sasuke's since they had that small and unpleasant argument –which she would rather not think about.

"Actually, you are right. I don't want to continue to use someone _else`s_ belongings and…" She turned to peek at Sasuke, nibbling on her lower lip, as she felt a mysterious tingle decorate the fine skin of her lips as she gazed at the breathtaking Uchiha before her. "…abuse of their generosity…"

Not that she didn't like to bath into the aroma of his perfumes and smell his unique masculine scent on his clothes –that she borrowed. "Is it ok?" It was him she addressed to and surprisingly, Sasuke simply nodded to her.

"As long as you do not allow this fanatic to transfigure you into an equally shopping habitué as she, then it is all right."

Ino gyrated her aqua orbs at Sasuke's way of talking, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Jeez, what`s with that old fashion way of talking? You make us look old and so out-of-style." She gravely turned to advise an amused Sakura. "I hope you don't pick it up too."

Because God forbids they needed another freak among their group. It wasn't a problem among Vampires who couldn't adapt to the sudden transition to the modern era, but to humans, it was a subject of gossip and mockeries. One doesn't just stroll to the local fast food and use Shakespeare's romantic way of talking, to ask for a hot dog.

"Wait a second!" As she almost dragged Sakura to the hole in the wall, where the broken door stood weeping and hanging on its hinges, Ino swirled to Sasuke, saying a line that almost had the hair at the back of his nape stand erect. "I need money!"

Oh Heavens, that was _never_ a _good_ sign!

Sasuke sighed heavily as he racked a hand through his raven wings resembling disarrayed hair, reluctantly taping the back of his pocket, fingering his wallet, sliding up a very exclusive _black_ credit card, inwardly debating whether he should handle it to Ino, but the banshee squealing Yamanaka was fast as lightning to snatched it form his hand, even before he had the chance to stretch his hand to her or blink. Damn was she nimble when it came to money.

"Ino, I find it mandatory to remind you that this is my _unlimited_ credit card and I fancy to think that, when it is going to be returned to me, I will not be inhumed under a pile of bills and broke."

In fact, it was the one he got from his _father_ , since it was reserved exclusively for billionaires and he didn't need another scandal on his head, for spending Fugaku`s money, even though he was helping him with his business and earned a lot.

Fugaku was even greedier and materialistic than Ino.

"Pff, if it is unlimited, then what is there to run out of? I swear I don't get you men and it is rude to complain about that in front of the _ladies_."

Ino brushed Sasuke off, mentally laughing her ass out loud at his apparently indifferent face, knowing that he was probably panicking inside, because a credit card in Ino`s hands, became a lethal weapon, so she snatched Sakura`s hand, and dragged the poor girl out of that house, stellar orbs gleaming like diamonds.

 _Credit cards that have no limit? Heck yeah!_ Not even she had such a luxurious item in her posession, because it only belonged to exclusivists social circles, like Hyugas and Uchihas.

She knew that Sasuke gave it to her because it would give access to every single glamour shop, cafés, restaurants, theatre, concerts, and it was another token that he cared deeply for Sakura, since he obviously entrusted such a piece of jewelry in Ino`s hands, thinking about her own interest, so she could go and enjoy everything that the high class materialistic word had to offer, from the finest clothes to the rarest cuisine.

And that thought alone was filling her head with verve. Sasuke would never go so far to please a woman. _Just_ a woman, so Sakura truly was something _aggrandize_ to him.

"Wait, Ino-" Sakura didn't have time to question Sasuke and the flaunting glee Yamanaka` brief interaction, for she was being lead outside the avian spacious flat, outside the halls, so she swiftly fluttered her hand towards Shikamaru and Sasuke, paying her farewell and the two Vampires briskly wondered whether she was wordlessly imploring them to save her from Ino`s overjoy and energy, but Sasuke only smirked softly at her, enjoying the way her rosy cheeks turned the color of wine, spanning along her earlobes, at the vista he greeted her with, furtively causing her to retrospect about the moment of their kiss.

As she was busy tucking on her hand, hooking arms with the girl, bouncing and jogging down the empty hall, to the elevator, Ino leaned forward to whisper to her new human friend, dramatically.

"Why is he worried about? He is already filthy rich. That greedy person… hey, let`s have some really good cocktails first, what do you say? Do you like strawberries, mango, stracciatella and green apples? I totally love them…"

She kept on showering Sakura with the things she adored, while questioning the rose haired woman about her own tastes and guilty pleasure and Sakura found herself casually conversing with Ino, all the while having the feeling that they knew each other since forever.

Somehow, her energy was dissipating from Ino and fused with her own going low one, invigorating her. Plus, Ino promised to show her a non-stop coffee shop which sold the best chocolate and caramel frappes, so her night looked promising.

.

.

.

* * *

The moment his bored but deeply amused olive orbs lost the fluttering shadows of the two women and the space around him went silent as a grave, Shikamaru turned to look at the Uchiha beside him, barely muffling his snorts, tapping his shoulder in what would be considered a consoling brotherly gesture, mocking him.

"If you need a place to stay after Ino successfully makes you go bankrupt, my friend, let me tell you that I have some spare space in the garage and it is only yours."

The glare he got from Sasuke was enough to make him smirk at the way his orbs went beyond darkness level, swallowing all the light and made Hell freeze in dread. "Fuck off." It was rarely to hear Sasuke curse on someone, but when he did it, he put a lot of passion and meant every single word of it, that was beyond funny to Shikamaru.

"I wished to, but _they_ found themselves quite the hobby tonight. Old habits die hard."

"But they would, eventually." Sasuke lurched towards his bedroom, gnarring back at Shikamaru, fighting against the need to punch the living daylights out of him for being such a smartass, but they were already late. "Let me change my attire first. Then… we can enliven their memory, so as to not forget _whose_ territory they smear and transgress."

"This… is going to be such a drag." The sapient Nara stretched his hands above his head, yawning heartedly as he followed Sasuke`s silhouette disappearing around the corner. "How boring."

No kidding, he would have rather been in the coziness of his bed, practicing his favorite hobby and sleep until morning –the prospect of waking up at such a moody hour was already very troublesome for him- but instead, his never sleeping group of 'partying' peers were always dragging him into doing someone _else`s_ dream job and cover for their lack of personnel and inefficacy in keeping the **balance** between the two clashing worlds and handle their own criminals.

But then again, it wasn't like they could ignore the latest outburst in the criminal rate and attacks on innocent people, either.

So what any other more convenient day of refreshing those assholes` memories about them being under strict surveillance, than a serene Sunday could be?

.

.

.

* * *

"Is this your car?" Sakura smiled at the totally girly charismatic neon pink convertible flashing in the underground parking lot, as Ino jouncing as she fingered her car keys inside the mess of her clutch, singing at her.

"Isn't it _totally_ glamour? My dad has given it to me when I turned twenty one and become…" The honey haired diva unlocked the door and slide into the passenger seat, as Sakura joined her on the passenger seat, giggling at the electrical red custom seatbelt, having an intricate tribal pattern designed on it. "…you know, a Vampire. It`s a birthday present, like it?"

Like it? That pink blob, in the same shade as her exotic hair shade, was one giant cherry ice cream, reminding Sakura of Katy Perry`s music videos, with all the tumult and explosive energy of colors, candies and strawberries.

In one word, she adored it! It was so much like Ino and so typical for a woman surrounding herself of rainbows, light and happiness and Sakura couldn't help herself but he her eyes scamper to the interior design, taking in all the girly details embellished into the leather upholstery, comparing it to Sasuke`s car, noticing the differences.

A car spoke volumes about one`s character. While the Vampire with the most mystifying olive eyes was driving a spacious, smooth and elegant car, where the colors light blue, silvery and black were dominating, Ino on the other hand, was driving Cinderella`s Carriage.

"Oh? It is beautiful and so… cute. Like a world of colors, and cupcakes. Please don't take it as an offense, I truly like it." Ino giggled at the choice of Sakura`s words, as the rosy haired young woman beside her was running a hand along the steering wheel, which Ino had wrapped in neon pink fluff. It was so crazy and eccentric, that it made Sakura laugh involuntarily, out of the blue.

"No, in fact, I think the same about this Princess. She never fails me and never left me in the middle of the road so far." Ino giggled along, switching the keys into the ignition, making the engine roar to life. "And it attracts hot guys." She cocked her head to wink at Sakura, as her stylized platinum curled lock of her bangs fell on her eye, stepping on the gas pedal pressing it to the floor, without looking at the road, laughing hotly at the blush on Sakura`s face.

She _totally_ knew that Sakura had a _thing_ for Sasuke –she saw it, smelt it, caught it and cheered for them- and it was fantasbulous!

There was such a mild hot starry night, the streets were illuminated, dazzling and not crowded, they both looked fabulous, she had her pair of favorite heels on and a new BFF to chatter nonstop too, so everything was looking promising to Ino. She was ready to hit the night markets, pubs and streets and bond more with her!

 _And the days that would follow!_

Soon enough, the way her heart leaped from her chest as Ino made her car come to life, hitting the streets and speeding on the fast line, convinced Sakura that not all the Vampires drove sleekly like they were flying, like Sasuke did. "Let`s kill the night, Sakura!"

Ino hollered to the emerald eyed rosette beside her, messing with the neon buttons around the DVD player, turning on the radio until she found a hot radio station with vogue pop music, singing along the latest hits and after Sakura caught her breathe and assured herself that she won't die because Ino wouldn't crash her car into some palm tree, since Ino went two times over the speed limit –and still speeding- she rejoiced, singing along.

That girl was kooky and utterly insane, but the kind of craziness and vibe that teens in the movies had which were enjoying every moment of their lives, treasuring friendship, love, romance, the sun and their favorite music together, without a care in the world –something that Sakura never had- and she found herself grow more and more attached by that blonde`s touch.

By any means, Sakura hasn't been living under a rock for the past twenty one years of her life, even though her previous home kind of resembled something that _Fred Flintstone_ would reside into, so she too enjoyed things that were normal for a girl her age, starting with fashion, music, latest gossip, hot stars and movies, even though it was mostly hearing from the others and window shopping or flipping through Mebuki`s fashion magazines –where did she get those money from?

But it didn't automatically implied that, while reeling into her teenage days, she lost the sense of ration, so she turned to Ino –who was busy sliding a pair of Police blue tinted sunglasses on the bridge of her nose, like a true glamour fashionista- and asked her. "Ahm… Ino? _Why_ did we actually left?"

"Aren't we smart? Well, the real reason is that the guys are a little bit… _busy_."

"Busy? With what?" There weren't together or… were they? Horror crept upon Sakura`s spine as the shudders of imagining such a horrendous scene flaunted before her orbs. Sasuke didn't strike like the type to have such… tendencies.

"Haha, you think they are into men, right? Oh, you are too funny for your own good." Upon realizing what exactly did Sakura mean by that, Ino let her head fall on the head rest and laughed at the content of her heart, tears prickling at the corners of her baby blue eyes, totally entertained, because usually, everyone tended to mistaken Sasuke and Naruto`s closeness for gay penchants, but never Shikamaru and him, though Sakura`s totally repelled figure, turning blue like she has just encountered walking zombies, was absolutely priceless.

"No, actually, they tend to do this pretty often and it is usually on Sunday. Some sort of a habit, if you want. An unwritten tradition of theirs. You see, I don't know how much he told you about what we do and what our purpose truly is, but I am sure that Sasuke let you know about the _clans_ of vampires, right?"

And then she would open up Pandora`s box and reveal the skeleton in the cupboard, but Ino was one of the most extroverted and outspoken naïve member of their group and Sakura seemed like someone she could trust, hence entrust some of their deepest secrets –for humans, because it wasn't such so ocult among their fellows Vampires.

"Actually, he only told me that there are pure blood Immortals, like his own Uchiha family of Rulers, then there are the ones that don't share your point of view and there are the others… half Vampires, if I am not mistaken, like Naruto, but nothing more than this."

Which was only scraping at the surface, but it wasn't like Sakura`s befuddled mind could have comprise everything in such a short amount of time –the shock of finding out about the existence of Vampire was still present- and make it a compact Encyclopedia, coming into terms of their hierarchies and sacred rules.

But it didn't imply that the naturally curious rosette wasn't intrigued and fascinated by the prospect of stripping Ino of more information. The more she knew about Vampires, then the easier it was to blend into their world and communicate. Plus, it gave her free access to Sasuke`s world and the chance of understanding him better.

"Yes, actually Vampires have suffered different mutations before reaching the supremacy of our race. Like the pure blooded vampires. Uchihas if you want. Or the Hyugas. They are the most powerful and the absolute leaders, like you said it. To make it easier to differentiate us from the others, we are grouped in clans, and commonly and conveniently named after Greek numerals. The most famous and main clans are: the _alpha_ which are the pure blood vampires, then, at the very opposite side, there are the _omega_ , which are the sick psychopaths half-breed vampires, led by this totally freak, Orochimaru, and there are _lambda_ , who are the rebels, and they don't belong to any group, but oppose to all the others and have their own weird rules and ideologies. You can easily tell them apart by this Tattoos on their wrists, with the respective letters. If you don't have one, it generally means that you have either been casted away from a group, or have no affiliation and to cut long story short, it means you are _vulnerable_ and _unprotected._ Basically, you are easy prey for the other clans."

As she was focusing on the road, Ino let the information sink into Sakura`s head, while the mills into the chartreuse eyed woman`s mind spun rapidly, digesting what she was hearing.

Plus, there was a deeper meaning underneath the Greek letters of their alphabet and Sakura was positive that it depicted exactly the social status of the Vampires, which were more scattered than she would have thoughts. **Alpha** , the letter used to delineate the crème de la crème among the Immortals, including their Leaders, emblazoned the **Primary Force** , hence their supremacy among the others. They were the ones who pulled the strings from the shadows; the elites among haut monde.

Opposite to the primary letter of the Greek alphabet, Alpha, was **Omega** , that typified the **end or the last** , which was totally understandable, since the pure bloods –the ones who had the power- considered any immixture into their perfection to be a disgrace and ultimately leading to the loss of the original imprint.

And then there was **Lambda** , a very intriguing and unique letter, defining the **Solar** energy, which was probably the reinterpretation of the myth of darkness veiling the Immortals, represented by both Alpha and Omega. Those who were revolutionary always denied everything coming from their ancestors and pursued the living of a renegades, so they were basically Vampires who contradicted the traditional sovereignty of night, by its Yang counterpart, the sun –the **light**.

If she thought in that manner, Sakura realized that Vampires weren't just a bunch of naturally skilled and brainy creatures, but very insightful and inspired too. She saw the genial manifestation of that in Sasuke and Hinata and the solar radiance of their rather pure dream materialized in Naruto and Ino`s way of thinking, and that was fascinating her.

"Wow, now this is kind of… confusing. I didn't know that the world of Vampires was so scattered. I have thought that being a race which hides into the shadows would make you guys more united."

"Well, it should have, but unfortunately, we are at war with one another. There are many tensions between us and we are currently at bad blood, because everyone is fighting for the supremacy. It is some sort of a sick twisted race to who gets to control the streets and consequently, gain the rule over the other Vampires."

As the nocturnal city lights beamed before her aquamarine orbs, Ino`s thoughts slipped from the streets she was focusing on as she drove to an opened supermarket, to wander amidst of the intricate net of lies and blood thirst which claimed the throne of their world, while everything else turned into an avian mass of blending neon lights passing at the corners of her eyes.

It was probably very difficult for Sakura to understand exactly how bad things were, but it was even worse to be part of that world and try to find a meaning or seek for something –anything- innocent into a puddle of mood and blood.

"Aren't the Uchihas the current Leaders of the Vampires? And what do they do if the world of Vampires is not united to begin with?" What Sakura meant by that, was what in the world was Uchiha Fugaku ruling over and what did he expect from Sasuke, since it was pressing him with being his successor?

"Well, you see, the three groups I have just enlisted to you are not equal in terms of adepts. The pure bloods and the regular vampires who recognize the suzerainty of the Uchihas and accept them like their leaders and they are the majority. I would say 75% of them are falling into the category, so, yes, you can say that Uchiha rules over the vampires. The others are insignificant in their number of devotees, but their number grows as they win more adepts on their side."

"You don't mean… adepts like… defectors of the Vampires, or humans turned into vampires, right?"

"Both the ones you have listed, but the former is much more difficult for them, because only a pure blood has the unlimited ability to turn a mortal into a full Vampire and make sure that the person survives and awakens as a transformed Vampire. The process itself is painful, brutal, intricate and hard. The hal- breeds simply don't have that power, but that Orochimaru I was talking about has managed to somehow create a mutated DNA in his lab and is now able to create this totally disgusting upgraded half-breeds that I was talking about."

Ok, now she was totally giving off secrets from the depths of the Vampire`s occult society, but what the hell, if Sasuke trusted a human enough to allow her to live with him and even told her some of their secrets –including the fact that he, as the Leader`s child and next in line, has disclosed the secret of Vampires to a Mortal- then she was free to tell her what she would consider relevant.

Plus, the Uchiha already foreseen that Ino wouldn't keep her mouth shut –like most of the women- and Sakura would probably find things that she shouldn't have nor did she have the ability to come in terms and accept them, let alone fathom them, and it wasn't necessarily because talking about Immortals to a human was such an unforgivable sin and a taboo, but it was aimed to also protect them for being attacked by the other groups of Vampires, who didn't quite fancied the idea of befriending mortals and live like a single race.

Well, it wasn't like any sane Vampire would attack Sakura as long as she was under Sasuke's wing, and those who were fool enough to attempt it… let's just say that they would face an imminent bloody and very harrowing bloody end of their existence –as contradicting to the dominance of immortality among Vampires as it might seem, they could be killed.

The mere ideas of _human experiments_ was making Sakura feel her stomach get queasy, as she was imagining the horrid horror sick movies with demented genius doctors and the things that could come out of their labs, not liking to learn that such _creatures_ were wandering through the streets and even blending with the humans, as they remained oblivious to the potential threat. "Half breed as in… half human and half Vampire, right?"

"Yeah. And he even found a way to grant them large great powers. They aren't as powerful as us the Vampires, but their advantage lies in the fact that they are ruthless, wilder and more savage than us, hence they are able to face us, stand as equals and even win some of the clashes. They are dangerous and they do illegal things for a living, consequently have a lot of money."

No kidding, Sakura and most of her brethren human had no idea that it wasn't the 'mafia' the envisioned and seen in the movies, the one who had the dominance over drug cartels, illegal weapons, liquor and tobacco. It was the playground of the Vampires, mostly half-breeds.

Orochimaru was incredibly wealthy because he made his dirty money from the illegitimate business and illicit acts of his henchmen, hence funding his experiments.

Of course that his dream was to overthrown Uchiha Fugaku and steal the crown from his hands, ruling over the Vampires. Since he wasn't of a pure blood family, the white serpent resembling half-breed character always lived under the stigma of his tainted genes and own personal frustrations, fueling his obsession to become a better Immortal than the aristocracy of the Vampires.

And his adepts were growing in number daily, because he was always a mastermind and a master at deception, and knew exactly what to offer to his potential adepts in order to lure them –trick them- into following him and mostly yenned for a very obvious thing: _power._

"I see… it sounds really complicated." Sakura could bet it was, because living in secrecy among people, allowing them to foolishly delude themselves that they topped the trophic chain, as the most evolved species populating that planet and live a parallel life of luxury and endless blood supply, was rather tricky and difficult.

Also, Sakura was definitely shrewd and lucid. If there was such a thing as 'criminals' and half-Vampires who defied their rules and codes, then it was only logical that there had to be such a thing as an uncorrupted Judicial System and Police Forces –or an equivalent- to follow their steps and prints and make justice.

So far, the world of Vampires appeared very organized and meticulously supervised by the Uchihas, so the natural question immediately aroused in Sakura` s brain: were the Uchihas playing the part of the Police Force as well, or they had another branch to deal with those creatures?

She doubted it that the upper crust of the Vampires would stain their hands into doing such dirty jobs, as seeking criminals. So who was dealing with that aspect?

"It is, and they are very dangerous. For instance, if you watched the news, you have probably heard of those recent attacks, right?" She vaguely heard about those tragedies, since the small black and white TV –which looked like a museum relic- from their impromptu kitchen, was always buzzing and on, but there were already other things transcending her mind in the past few days, namely _suicide._

"You mean those difficult cases that the police cannot solve? I had. Sasuke told me it is the Vampire`s doing."

Ino rolled her orbs at that, taking a sharp U-turn at the roundabout. "Well he DOES think that _he_ must take all the responsibility and atone for the entire Vampire race, but not entirely. The _half-breeds_ are behind it, and not the Vampires per se. They feed from both blood and food, but they need human blood to survive, unlike us who need it to replenish our energy and invigorate, either ways their half human bodies won't be able to sustain the Vampire side."

It was just reasonable and logical, the fact that the mortal side cannot sustain the dead one –immortal, so they needed to nourish their _dead –_ immortal- side with _living_ blood.

Since it was peculiarly antithetical and a logical oxymoron, Sakura felt her temples start to spin around. She had troubles in getting cozy with the fact that immortality from her vocabulary, as in perennial and endless, wasn't the same meaning as in the Immortal`s lexicon, which meant, negation of living, hence death.

That was why they needed to cling on the part that has once been human and alive and preserve that nature, if they were only half turned into Vampires. And that was the reason why a full-fledged Vampire won't die of lack of blood, only get weaker and weaker, until they would eventually enter a comatose state, but never fully die just because of lack of blood only.

"So they kill innocent people at random, by attacking them at night in order to drink their blood and hence survive, right?"

"Yeah. The streets are not safe anymore, especially not at dark times." It was needless to hide something so sad from Sakura, since she was clearly a potential target to both Vampires and half-breeds –especially the former.

Ino could clearly sense the fruity scent of her fresh meant and the appetizing blood flooding through her system, so she felt extremely sorry for the girl, briefly wondered how come she has survived so far without being a living target. _Was there something more about the girl which she failed to notice?_

"What about the Vampires and the pure blood Vampires?"

"Unfortunately, most of them don't want to give up human blood and I am sure that Sasuke already filled you in. This is why we, mostly him, are at war with the pure blood Vampires, since this is something we totally cannot accept. But unlike those creepy half breeds, who are like mindless grotesque cavemen, without a purpose in their pathetic existences and a big stomach to feed, they are leaving no traces and are more subtle, but in exchange for their… clean work," Ino grinded her pearl luscious teeth in revolt and annoyance, as her neon coral manicured nails dug into the steering wheel, gripping the very life of it.

"They are taking _pleasure_ from torturing and playing with the humans, before _disposing_ of them. This is something that we can't simply overlook."

There was just something poignant and malicious coming from Ino`s glossy lips and suddenly Sakura felt an electrical discharge over her spin, as the tension grew stiff, cold and charged among them, but she knew it wasn't diverted to her, rather than to something that the glamorous diva found repulsive. "What… do you mean by _disrespect_ us, the humans?"

The Yamanaka heiress nervously tucked a hand through her hair, pulling her long bang backwards, biting her lower lip, debating whether she should disclose further or flap the subject and bombard Sakura with more casual girl talk, such as her favorite perfume or rockstar.

But somehow, she just couldn't stop her lips from fluttering, all the while her words looked avian like she was mentally transcending to those times, turning back to a very acrid memory.

"I have only been there twice with my family because it was an Uchiha invitation of the highest rank, so we couldn't refuse without openly declaring them _war_ but… we went to this huge theatre like grandiose building that is one of the Uchiha`s possession and every entertainment of _this_ sort is held in there and at first I thought it would be a normal opera play and it was… up to a certain point."

"What… happened before that… _point_?"

Ino didn't answer at first and she didn't know how much time would Sasuke spend with that girl to begin with, so of course her reticence was pooling from the myriad of unpleasant very personal memories, that were chronologically connecting the order of events and stood as the unshaken foundation of their amity and cordiality, debating whether she should tell her or brush it off like it was nothing, nipping on her luscious full lower lip.

Upon seeing her reserve, Sakura immediately tapped the blonde`s shoulder, briefly pondering about what it could have been so disquieting to make the headstrong volcanic blonde to slightly reel in apprehension, which was projected on her beautiful shimmering face.

"It is ok, I already vowed to never disclose anything about Vampires. Besides, I am not going to _live_ that long to have the chance to say a word, so you can rest assured. Sure, it doesn't mean that I am trying to pressure you into disclosing something you cannot or is way too personal."

"What do you mean by that?" Briefly pausing on pondering whether she should disclose that particular memory to Sakura or not, Ino let her azurite orbs hurtle towards the rosy haired female beside her, and involuntarily landed on the subtle imprint of sharp delicate fangs embed along the outline of her pulse, while Sakura was fiddling her necklace absentmindedly, playing with the pendant.

" _He_ gave you the necklace, right?" Ino of course, knew the meaning behind that gesture. Vampires only gave that to the ones they were having serious sentiments for, something similar to an engagement ring. "It's beautiful beyond words, Sakura."

"Yes, he somehow remembered that we have met on my birthday and gave me this jewelry as a present. I am not very sure of how to repay him for this gesture. Even someone as unschooled as me, could clearly see that it is very expensive and precious."

Sakura fugitively wondered whether she should decline the present or not, but then realized that it would only bring opprobrium and deeply insult the owner of the gift, and it was the last thing in her mind. Sasuke has been anything starting from elegant to her and she didn't want to affront him.

"He drinks from your blood." It wasn't murmured as a question, it was a discontent and disappointed remark coming from Ino`s susurrating lips, as her French manicured finger traced the outline of the two punctures in her neck, somehow feeling sorry in the name of Sasuke and her entire Vampire race for something that Sakura couldn't comprehend, though the emotion was there, lingering within the swells of her shimmering aquamarine orbs.

"He does, but this is only because I _allow_ him to do so. He promised not to touch me in any deviant way, without my consent."

"Why do you let him do this to you, Sakura? You _do_ know that your lifespan is going to lower because of that, don't you? And besides, we can very much live on this pills that Neji-"

"Ino." She abridged Ino`s words of pity and empathy, softly, feeling her chest warm at the way the blonde seemed to genuinely care for her well-being, completely moved by her gesture. "You are acting like the sister I have never had and I don't know if I could ever repay you for the kindness, but there is a promise made between Sasuke and I which is private and concerns only the two of us, so I am asking you to accept it and respect it. Everything he does to me, it is only because _I_ let him. He doesn't hurt me at all."

Truth to be told, when Sasuke drank her from her blood, he made it be a soaring experience. Sakura has never lived through something so staggering and pleasurable to the senses ever before and frankly, she never minded doing it over and over again, until there won`t be anything left inside her for him to take because the way he made her feel, was totally worth the high price she paid.

Of course that Sasuke told her afterwards that she would had her lifespan break short, since there was only a limited amount of times that blood cells –and human cells in general- could regenerate and she appreciated his honesty –and the visible hesitation that came along- but it was, for the lack of better words, her own free choice. Sasuke hasn't constricted her in giving it to him and even went as far as to offer a truce: happiness vs. life itself.

"Well damn…" Ino let the clearly sensitive topic die as she slide her baby blue orbs back to the windscreen, gazing at the road. "Sorry, ok? I tend to be quite troublesome, like Shikamaru says, but don't tell him he was right, cos I don't want to grant him this satisfaction."

"I swore to him I won't say about Vampires to anyone and if I ever do that, I gave him complete freedom to personally _silence_ me." She didn't need to voice it out loud, because Ino comprehended the meaning underneath, nodding once in understanding. "So please Ino, finish your story. I want to know."

No, she _needed_ to know, because any chance she got from getting closer to Sasuke –the man _behind_ the royal title of a Vampire Prince- she would grasp it and never let it slip from her fingers. If she would know more about him, then the chances of offending him again and trigger memories that she shouldn't, like the one about his fiancé, would be nullified and their cohabitation could flow smoother.

Not that it wasn't already swaying on the right track. His kiss was a solid irrefutable proof of that. She followed the way Ino`s rouged lips pursed into a perfect pout, as she finally exhaled once, nodding in agreement, but pulled the car on the side of the road, as she would probably disclose something very intimate and rather disturbing, so she didn't want to fight against her flashbacks, to not distract her from driving safely, but she let the lights on.

"Well, I am not sure if I should tell you about this or not, since you are human and barely met Sasuke, but I thought that the Vampire in that tragically opera play was just acting, when, in reality, he was truly drinking that girl`s blood and when he dropped her lifeless and almost dry unmoving body on the floor…"

Ino`s voice was shaking as emotions started to overwhelm her and Sakura felt her heart take a swift leap into her throat, feeling that the nightmares she would experience were just at the beginning. "…damn I didn't realize it at first, otherwise, I wouldn't have _clapped_ when the first act was over and the next thing I know was that… Oh. My. God. she was dead. Truly dead, Sakura. And they were cheering and enjoying it, the bastards!"

Sakura felt her own eyes prickle with saline tears as Ino`s baby blue hues were pooling like mountain rivers, syphoning down her cheek as she didn't flicker her hands to wipe them as they started to fall unrestrained.

"This is-" Although the blonde wasn't making any sense, since she was jabbering and mumbling incoherent sentences, like she was trying to grasp a congruity into her own thoughts, Sakura could easily depict poignancy and grief consuming her words and it was forwarding them to Sakura, unconsciously.

"They are able of much worse than that. Sometimes, they would simply drag young men or women in, because they don't make any difference, and completely leave them naked like in the day they were born, just to mock them for their scared and pitiful state, bite them in various places and drink their blood, while they do… _certain_ things to them…" Sakura figured it out that Ino meant engaging them into sexual activities that they didn't consent to –rape- and her skin shivered in dread.

As the blitzing beautiful baby blue eyed female Vampire was openly crying, without being bothered or ashamed of that human weakness that she preserved, Sakura patiently listened to how her story was starting to get a precise outline, as the blonde haired female looked both angry and disgusted, and Sakura herself remained frozen in shock, upon hearing the next line that came out of Ino`s mouth.

"…their _screams_ , that panic in their eyes when they looked at us," She turned to look at Sakura, azurite sky luscious orbs intertwining with chartreuse ones, as the rosy haired woman silently conveyed her the message that she understood her and tried to comprehend every word and phrase the best she could. "They looked into MY eyes Sakura, do you understand that? I was able to _read_ their fear, the fear of dead, they were so scared to die, yet… I did nothing to prevent it."

The Yamanaka heiress laced her jittering digits to the crown of her head and pulled her hair backwards, facing her lap as she suddenly couldn't face Sakura anymore. "I simply stood there… petrified, those faces which screamed for help, while vampires… creatures just like me, from the same species and blood, were using their bodies and fed from their flesh and blood… those agonizing screams… that was not entertainment, Sakura… it shouldn't be like this… no one is to suffer such ignominy and shame… no one!"

Heartbreakingly despondent apatite hues drifted back to gaze into Sakura`s effervescent emerald ones and she transmitted all the resentment and disgust that was fermenting inside her and the rosette could depict it into the queasiness of her clenched stomach.

"…it was _Hell._ I felt surrounded by demons, and not by my own family members. Only demons would take pleasure from the other`s suffering. Like you would see people torturing animals… and you won't laugh at that because your know that they are weaker, dumber and powerless to defend themselves against your abuse. Your heart should break because they cannot defend themselves from you."

And the images were even more horrifying that she was crayoning them to Sakura, but Ino couldn't tell a friend –a human companion nonetheless- such revolting things and expose too many details.

The way those vampire actors or whatever they pretended to be were shouting words of how assailable, vulnerable, exposed and pathetic human beings were, how they demean and tarnished their species before laughing audience, the way women no older than Ino herself were being raped by two or three vampires each, as they screamed in unmitigated pain, was too much of an injustice and disgrace to be put into words.

It could only be translated into tears and immersed into blood stains.

It was massacre yet… all the others were laughing. Never in her entire living has Ino experienced something more grotesque and horrifying than that.

"I couldn't accept that, Sakura. And I swore to God that from that day on out, I will _fight_ with all my might to change that and to never allow something like that to happen. And if I am not strong enough to fight by myself, then I will team up with Vampires who can help me reach my goal, if that means that I can make a difference by helping and supporting their cause. "

To someone like Sakura, it only sounded like page of an adult graphic pornographic vampire movie, which would only stirred disgust inside her, by presenting such a distorted image of human`s frailty and the favoritism for the Immortals, aimed for a particular target of audience, since it was swaying on the sultry, dark and BDSM zone, but learning it that it happened in _real_ life, was bringing another sort of tumult into her chest.

She simply couldn't believe what she was hearing from Ino, but lies she wasn't telling her. Were the Vampires so ruthless and cruel by nature?

Was that the reason why Sasuke chose to stray from them and depart from home? Was he feeling equally repulsed by that like Ino and most likely the rest of his friends did? Feeling the need to reverse their roles and be the one to soothe her new friend, Sakura softly placed a hand atop Ino`s, giving it a light comforting squeeze.

"You don't have to feel guilty about anything, Ino. The fact that you think like this, that you value us, the humans` company and respect us, simply shows how kind hearted you really are. You didn't know, but your morals reacted in the right way, hence you strengthened your resolve. You couldn't have done more in that situation, but you understood their pain. This is an important step and I admire you for that courage. You weren't afraid to take in their pain and courageously face it and even if you are immortal, you had the guts to watch the Dead, mirrored into the eyes of an innocent mortal."

Somehow, Sakura`s lines have brought more fresh tears into Ino`s eyes –tears that she probably has amassed during all those decades, but never found the fortitude and determination to let the flow- and she carelessly threw her hands around Sakura`s shoulders, hugging her tightly, wetting her shoulder with her tears.

"Thank you! Seriously, I don't know how you and Sasuke met, but I feel like Heavens have sent you to us!"

Sakura brought her palms to rub against her shoulders, returning her embrace and trying to be as comforting as she could, listening to what her heart was dictating her to do in such a situation for a dear friend, allowing Ino to take it all away off her system.

They pulled apart after more prolonged moments, during which her baby blue orbs lubricated with all the burning jewels that washed away the remorse and contrition she felt towards her lack of feedback . She needed that: the amnesty of a mortal, feeling that she silently wronged them all by not interfering to stop what she has witnessed.

She has lived with that shadow cast upon her shoulders for centuries and it was consummating her like a shadow swallowing up all the light and drained her of the life-force. In her road to redeem herself in front of her own eyes and the others`, Ino has just passed through the final and most difficult stage – that was acceptance and remission.

"But you are wrong on one aspect. I _could_ have done _something_ right then, and yet I was too scared to voice out my frustration, because I would have been deemed as a _traitor_ and embarrass my family in front of the other elite Vampires. But _someone_ else did what I and everyone else who disagreed with what they have witnessed failed to do and _reacted_ vehemently."

Ino took a napkin from the glove compartment and wiped away her tears, while looking into the rear-view mirror to fix up her leaking makeup. Sakura arched an eyebrow at her enigmatic choice of words, inquiring. "Someone else did… what exactly? From the audience?"

"Yes. While we were all staying frozen like handicapped cowards unworthy of the title of noble exquisite Vampires, _someone_ shot up from the seat, as one of those young innocent women, who was being forced to… suck on a masked Vampire actor as another was taking her brutally from the behind, and shouted it out loud at them to stop with the disgusting act, because the only message that they succeeded to convey, was that they were undeveloped mindless amoebas, who couldn't even make it to baboons according to Darwin`s theory of evolution, because even those monkeys had more morals and rules than that, and by that, made the entire audience freeze and gasp in shock."

Despite the fact that Ino looked very open minded and hardly someone who would feel ashamed to relate such shameful vulgar chronological events unfolding, there was hesitation and abashment churning into her words, which only emphasized the fact that, even though she was a modern independent woman, living in the age of technology and freedom, the golden haired Yamanaka princess had virtue, morals and integrity.

Nevertheless, she was a very good story teller and Sakura could even envision an Aula full of Vampires belonging to the beau monde, all assembled in a single compact place, as one of them –their own blood, flesh and comrade- stood up to defy the entire breathing of the Vampires and that thought alone, made her extremely curious about who the mysterious Immortal might be.

"Wow, now this takes some courage! Who did that?" Whoever that Vampire was, Sakura knew that it had to be either someone plainly insane or insanely strong.

At that, Ino finally found the strength to regain her iridescent energy and fully grinned at Sakura, in a manner that could be compared to someone who has just obtained a great victory, singing to her ears to hear one very elegant and indomitable velvet name. "Uchiha _Sasuke_."

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N: I am deeply sorry for how long it takes me to update this story, but I must say that this is not my only project and I absolutely don`t want to rush things up and write something that I am not content with. Initially, I wanted this chapter to be longer and I have more written in advance, but seeing that you guys have become impatient and sent me messages to ask me when I will update, I decided to give you half of what I have written so far, until I finish the rest of it.**

 **Also, I am aware of the fact that Ino`s short peek into the past is dark and might be offensive and outrageous, it was hard to write that as well without being too vulgar, but this is a Vampire story and consequently it** **will** **explore darker and sexual themes.**

 **Anyways, by any means, I am trying my best to give you guys good chapters for you to read and not take too long to update. Lately, inspiration hardly came to me and I focused more on the stories I felt inspired to update.**

 **Ah, by the way, one of the Guests have addressed me a rather interesting smart question, which I hoped I answered in this chapter.**

 **My special million thanks to:**

* * *

Yumi Ayumu

Where. is. the. bathroom 

HyperReader

JJJJHH

Dango-Chan123

luvsasusaku. 97

Guest

guest

Guest

Guest

SSLove

lovesasusakuforever

RalitsaR

Guest

ElevatedJewel

Tiger Priestess

Guest

Guest

Guest

Guest

Guest

lola

YurikoMinamoto

Guest

* * *

 **You guys have taken from your precious time to share your opinion with me regarding Chapter IV and your beautiful words have made me deeply joyed and thrilled. Thank you so much for the feedback, I will take more time into answering to all of them as I will soon post the other part of the next chapter. You have no idea how it makes me feel to read your reviews, it only gives me the courage to continue and brighten up my mood –which equals inspiration.**

 **I am jolly to hear that you liked Sasuke and Sakura`s first kiss. I have worked much on that scene to add to the intimacy , romance, feelings and the act itself.**

 **I have to disclose the fact that this update takes me so long –besides the obvious personal problems such as college and Dissertation and my other projects- is because there are two upcoming things that comes as challenging for me to write namely: an upcoming fighting scene which gets me everytime since it is not a forte of mine and another intimate moment between Sasuke and Sakura. Don`t worry though, I am pretty advanced in writing it.**

 **Until next time, I am sorry I kept you wait so much, I do hope that this glimpse of an update –which wasn`t too eventful, I know- was tolerable and I thank you ALL OF YOU GUYS who read, follow and enjoy this story and have so much patience with me.**

 **Till later...**


	6. The other side of the Moon - Part II

**::CHAPTER VI:: The other side of the** _moon_ **–Part II::**

* * *

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

 **::** The rhythm that your **touch** elicits into the guitar of my  heart,

Lulls me into your arms like a melody that we have both been singing from the beginning of eternity.

Our nocturne lullaby.

I want to drown into your eyes until I will be everything you see whenever you blink,

And you are going to wipe away my tears.

You stole my solitude and turned it into **hope**.

Do I need to let myself swallowed by the _Darkness_ , in order to read the light with your soul?

If I wanted to take one more step into your world and see how it goes round, will you be there to hold my hand?

What if I get lost into the maze of _deception_ that lies underneath Immortality? Will you be there to guide my  steps?

Prevent me from _falling?_

Is there anything beyond the abyss of pleasure, lace and **blood** that can make my heart soar?

Will I ever fly to you with my angel wings, if your abode is _not_ Heaven?

I know now that you are a pedestal built from lights and _shadows_...

But it is that exact essence of you that I want to taste on my **lips**

Whenever you **kiss** me.

If you don`t want me to think that you only shine during _night_ time,

Then let me gaze at the other side of the _moon_...

 _ **Sasuk**_ ** _e_ ::**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

If Sakura would have sipped from a drink right then, she would have sprayed the contents all over Ino`s face, not actually anticipating such an answer. "W-What? You are kidding me, right?"

She wish she did, but Sakura was so unlucky to have missed such an event going on live, but then again, she wasn't even born on that world when the incident has made the entire Vampire race quaver, at the adamancy and the perturbation that his erratic bold behavior has caused, hence the rift into the Uchiha family.

And what a scene it was. Ino would forever have those memories imprinted down her mind, for as long as eternity would have mercy on her and shelter her from a violent ending –even if they were Immortals, there was hardly any vampire who has lived more than 1000 years and that was because of the constant rivalry and revenge among them and their enemies.

Having Sasuke stand up and be the voice of ration and the lawyer of the mortals, was something fantastical and dramatic at the same time, because his declaration and behavior have been so appalling and no one would have expected them.

Truth to be told, Ino was somehow suspecting that it was that particular open –and killer- declaration of war towards the entire Vampire race, the nail in the coffin in his relationship with his former fiancé. Somehow, Ino simply couldn't brush off the feeling that the woman was only in search for _power_ and a _social status_.

Reputation, fame and respect from all the entire elite of Vampires would have been unequivocal the moment Sasuke would have become the King of the Vampires and rule in Fugaku`s place, but no.

He chose not to pursue that dream and, instead, find his own way as he deemed fit. And the woman who claimed to love him unconditionally, the same one who should have been the first to stand up and support him towards the end –even if it meant to die with him or for him- was the one to act like any other face in the crowd, scurry into her seat like she has been ashamed of his unpardonable behavior and keep silent, while his friends wasted no heartbeat to stand up and cheer for him.

Everything strengthened Ino` s suspicion that, unfortunately, Sasuke has been blinded by her charms and failed to see that she was just another superficial woman who was lusting for the same materialistic things as all the other fangirls: his gorgeous looks, the money he had, the reputation of his name and the power tagging along with his social status and the title of royalty among Vampires.

The always sharp and visceral Yamanaka heiress always despised that woman, but after her unexpected behavior and her lack of support, she only loathed her even more. Yes, Ino would never lie to herself and deny the fact that she too has been attracted to the youngest of the two Uchiha brothers at some point, but then again, who could have blamed her?

Sasuke was the prosopopeia of any woman`s night-loving fantasia and dream, in terms of everything that the eye and imagination could comprise: even if he was still in his early years as a young transformed Vampire and still getting cozy with the life as a child of the night, his features were at their swell.

He was beyond handsome as a man –he has always been gorgeous, even in his mortal days as a human- but after he earned the mystical noble aura of a Vampire, he became something surreal in terms of looks and that was something that no woman –or even men- could simply ignore it. Sasuke was turning heads whenever he went and that was a painful undervalue.

Grace, maturity in terms of judging and reasoning, deluxe finesse, the genial taste for aesthetic and elegance, luxury and volubility came with experience and touched the supremacy after decades, molding and metamorphosing an inborn royalty into something that anyone would imagine having beside; truly a grandiose heir of the Leader of the Vampires, but unfortunately, his soul was everything but his character was.

Inwardly, Sasuke has been born a rebel by definition. Everything he deemed as wrong, corrupt, illicit, sybaritic and meaningless, he plainly rejected it and fought against it, be it his own family, peers or the other Vampire peers.

Ironically enough, it did nothing to diminish his magnetizing appeal, on the contrary, it pushed it through the limits of beauty and power. So, in other words, who would not fall for someone like the mighty Uchiha heir?

Of course, Ino never got past the point of infatuation and crush, for she too understood that loving and lusting for someone were antithetic. Lust was mere attraction for the strong beautiful parts, while _love_ equalized acceptance of both the strong and the weak parts of a person.

That was true adoration according to her definition: seeing beauty in the dark and ugly parts and accept them unconditionally.

Like Sasuke`s lover couldn't do. She couldn't get over the fact that she might not gain the reputation she has been dreamed of and become the Queen of Vampires, since Sasuke was repudiating his family and the inheritance.

She couldn't accept his flaws and darkness, so naturally, she didn't love him, only desired what he got to offer physically –be it money or his body.

And that thing in Ino`s vocabulary was totally objectionable and unsatisfactory. Love was commitment and unconditionally, otherwise, it cannot be called by that term. Looking at Sakura and doing a short comparison between the two women who caught Sasuke`s attention, Ino could see that the emerald eyed young female beside her was million times more profound in terms of understanding people`s or vampire`s feelings and scrape the surface to get to read what was underneath. Sakura wasn't superficial.

Probably, she understood the full meaning of the term romance and what it implied in order to truly and ineffably be intimate and romantic with a man. From that point of view, Sakura would never betray the one she loved, straying away from him when her support was most needed.

She would be there, faithful, committed, supportive and loving him like she did from the very first day they fell in love, no matter who her lover might be or what his doctrines were.

And those drifting figments were making Ino hopeful that Sasuke could finally move on. She trusted him and felt sorry for the fact that his fiancé left him heartbroken –though she thought it was for the better that she left, since she didn't love him enough to make the supreme sacrifice in the name of love- also, after she quickly realized how childish her crush was, Ino and Sasuke were close friends and confidents. As a friend and his supporter, Ino wanted the best for the raven haired Uchiha.

And maybe, just maybe Sakura might be the lighthouse in the middle of the storm. Her radiance was surely glowing over the night and so was her honest smile.

"Nope. After he left us gasp at his nerve to stop the fun, he used that insane speed of his body flicker technique to appear on the stage and without further notice, he took on the six vampires on the stage, without breaking a sweat sending them flying right through the walls of the building, while the audience simply stood frozen and no one interrupted him.

I will never forget the moment light has broken into the stage from the fool moon and he turned around to face us, then walked to the woman that was being abused, took off his coat to put it on her naked body and used his own blood to give it to her to drink for she was half dead and couldn't have been saved in any other way, thus saving her life, but since she still had human blood inside and hasn't _fully_ died, she remained a human. Then he stood up and faced us all, but we all know that he was addressing his _father_."

Ino was absorbed like replaying the scene in her mind, while Sakura couldn't believe that Sasuke went that far to oppose his family and defy them in front of an entire audience and honestly, she wished she saw a side like that in him, since Sasuke hardly seemed like the type of man to pick up a fight, but then again, the conjuncture has been different.

"I have never seen Fugaku-sama so… so _murderous_ looking and in fact, we all anticipated that he would leash forward and make his son pay, which he didn't because Sasuke shut his mouth before he had the chance to speak and told him that if he could, he would die again and be born again if that would sever all his bonds with the Uchiha name, a name that he feels cursed and ashamed to bear and told his father that he could forget he was alive and for the rest of his days, he would _fight_ against _him_. It was crazy I am telling you!"

No kidding, Ino was bloody serious. She, along with the entire auditorium were enthralled in some sort of a trace, while seeing Sasuke`s raw, yet fine and calculated, display of striking sheer power, as he found the moment to be extremely appropriate for proving his point: he wouldn't be the one to be painted into colors that didn't fit his taste –by no one, his father included- and he had the pluck and bravery to assail and contradict them, simply because he had so much trust in his potential.

Most likely, not even his father himself –who has always praised and cheered for Itachi to be his heir, totally neglecting Sasuke`s merits and development- would have expected his youngest son to be _that_ strong, so daring and unpredictable and so ferocious, while preserving his inborn elegance and eloquence, even if he was hardly a vocal outgoing man.

In a nutshell, Sasuke has sensibly relied on the element of surprise, because absolutely no one would have thought that the very heir of the organizers of the spectacle would be the one to stand up, bolt to the stage and spit that the show was utterly miserable and ridiculous, macabre, grotesque and it made him repulsive.

Albeit Ino was certain that there were also silent voices in the audience who were on the same page with Sasuke, but not so daring, after all, the punishment for defying to Current Leader, was either _extermination_ or becoming an _outcast_ , pertaining to no clan of Vampires, hence a sure easy prey.

"…" Sakura was speechlessly absorbing Ino`s words, while the blonde pressed down the parking brake, whirling the steering wheel and speeded up down the starry streets, continuing her story, being almost at the finale of her short intense recollection.

"And then the unthinkable happened. Naruto, who was staying beside his mother stood up as well and shout out that he would support his bastard of a friend and turn his back on the Vampires. The next ones were Neji _Hyuga_ and Hinata, who was already in love with Naruto.

Ten Ten and Rock Lee, their childhood friends wordlessly stood up as well, declaring that they supported him and after I have seen Shikamaru beside me stunning his family and standing up as well, after he yawned like the lazy zombie he is, I snapped out of my stupid stupor, took the hand that he subtly had stretched towards me, offering me the support I needed to take this forbidden step to oppose the Uchihas and the rest of the Vampires and stood as well. This is how our _group_ was formed. It all started from there."

The level of respect and admiration that Sakura had for Sasuke in that moment grew tenfold. She wanted to get back home rapidly and hug him, after tell him how much he appreciated his strength and determination and even… kiss him once again? _Where did that come from?_

"I don know what to say, I knew he was an avid defender of humans, but I didn't know that he went that far. Wow…"

As Ino has been transported in to those faraway times, when she has been left stunned by Sasuke`s bravery and display of such a spectacular fine display of power touching the swell of its blaze, Sakura on the other hand was having a small trial developing into her head, as she couldn't believe the fluttering sensation tickling her lips the moment she has reminisced about her kiss with the obsidian eyed handsome Vampire.

As if on cue, her fingers tapped along her lower lip, trying to determine whether she could reinforce the feeling and maybe reenact it once more, or her mind was playing tricks on her. _No, it wasn't!_

The way her heart seemed to have been turned into a nightingale trapped in a silvery cage, chirruping and fluttering her wings to be set free and return to the sky, assured Sakura that her spirit and mind were sending contradictory signals: while part of her found it fit and fair to stay away from any romantic liaison with Sasuke, the other one was calling for his name.

What should she do in that situation? She was heavily _attracted_ to her benefactor with the most mesmerizing eyes like ink, but at the same time, she didn't want to disrespect and vex him with a flirtatious attitude.

What would he say about her? That she only made such an equivocal request, just to take advantage of his proximity and seduce him?

It wasn't his _bed_ Sakura`s final destination.

 _It was his heart-_

She stopped her train of thoughts there because she didn't want to careen from the righteous path and break their mutual silent trust established through their vow to each other.

Or at least, that was part of how Sakura viewed her part of modesty and prudery as a woman, because Sasuke had absolutely no problems in letting her go _further_. And maybe that thought of outright intimacy between a man and a woman –especially a woman and a Vampire male- was making her so reticent and ultimately _afraid_.

During her delirious trail of questions and confusions, Sakura found herself yenning for Sasuke`s _acceptance_ and _acknowledgement_.

Somehow along the road of meeting Sasuke, that feeling started to effloresce into her chest –that she didn't want him to _hate_ her. Maybe it was the way he talked to her –like she mattered the world to him- or the inspirited deep gaze he used to bore into her soul –like he wanted to find something within her that he has been searching for forever- and maybe it was the kiss that bloomed between them so beautiful and sweet and so ineffably spontaneous –like a lover would touch her- and maybe, it was the feeling of _home_ , protection and warmth that his presence was inflicting into her, the things that made Sakura feel like she has been knowing Sasuke for a long time ago.

Like they weren't strangers from _different_ –opposing- worlds colliding into an affinity so intense and unwritten by any laws.

And she has been only known him for two days, but definitely those hours were the best moments of Sakura`s life. Unconditionally, she had no problem in openly admitting it to anyone that, for the first time in her life, she felt _valued,_ cared for, appreciated, observed and…  happy?

And for that thought alone, it was worth fighting against the idea of suicide.

Yes, it only dawned to the insightful rose haired woman that she wanted to live just a little more and see how the world went by through Sasuke`s onyx eyes; hues that saw, experienced, tasted, felt and fought against everything she has only dreamed of; eyes she longed to see more and more and swim inside that ocean of infinite darkness, but the night into Sasuke`s eyes, was romantic, tender, serene, a silent witness, otherworldly and warm, Sakura observed.

It wasn't eerie, spooky, demonic or dangerous. At least, not when he was in her presence.

Still, that occult desire to taste his _lips_ again remained a mystery that Sakura couldn't explain it to herself, without trespassing barriers between them and she would rather not.

Meanwhile, Ino was closely following her new human friend`s reactions, completely understanding Sakura`s inner torment.

As a woman and not necessarily a mystical creature, the baby blue eyed female Vampire could relate to her feelings. Sasuke was a desirable man and she shouldn't feel ashamed or guilty about her feelings of lust and attraction towards him, it was just natural.

But she inwardly smirked and approved of the way she seemed to ponder whether she should let her feelings set free from their bindings or keep her virtue, because it showed how much she cared for Sasuke's _feelings._

If anything, she didn't want him to suffer and that probed how deep her bonds with the others could go. It was exactly the typology of an excellent _lover_ for someone like Sasuke.

And the onyx eyed Prince of the Immortals wasn't by all means discriminatory: he had absolutely no problems in equally falling for a female Vampire or a simple mortal woman, no matter what her social status was. Sasuke was hardly someone with prejudices and preconceptions, since his analyzing of the others` characters was his main priority, the rest being irrelevant.

He proved it by refusing many of his aristocratic female Vampires suitors, despite the money and high social status and accepting someone like Sakura, unconditionally.

"I know you don't understand it Sakura, because you are not bound by our rules, but for us to oppose our families is among the deadliest _sins._ And Sasuke isn't just anyone. He is Fugaku`s _successor_.

And his only one, because Itachi has left the family long ago to live with his lover, Konan. She is a human as well. In fact, she is the woman that Sasuke saved that night, from being publicly humiliated.

She has come with us and Sasuke brought her to Itachi. They fell in love afterwards and she is forever indebted to Sasuke and swore to support our cause. Itachi as well.

Sakura, Sasuke is basically _haunted down_ by his family but they don't want to kill him, no, they want to crush his _spirit_ and force him into taking the lead of the vampires and become his Heir because that way, he would be forced to bend to the doctrines of vampires and succumb into the things he loathes most. It is like a curse he cannot break free from."

 _The Uchiha curse._

* * *

Sakura felt absolutely sorry for Sasuke, even though he hardly fell into the category of man to be pitied by the others, but as an orphan and an abused kid, she shared his pain. "This is so unfair.

To not be able to confide in your own family… it must hurt a lot." She knew. Even if Sasuke has never once let it flaunt over his calm façade, there was so much solitude in the depths of his onyx eyes –those beautiful eyes which melt her insides with their energy, were incredibly _lonely_.

"It's his own free choice. I am lucky that soon after, my parents have understand our point of view and now the Nara, the Akimichi and even the Hyugas share our views, hence they can put a lot of pressure on the Council and the Leaders and their word means something in the world of Vampires, but Sasuke isn't that lucky.

Uchiha Fugaku is an unflappable chauvinistic Vampire, but we have the secret support of his wife, Mikoto-san. She tries to persuade him into being more respectful and mindful to people."

"Are you guys the only one opposing the others?"

"Actually, no. We also have adepts and Vampires who think we are right and joined us. Recently, the three _Suna_ brothers, who are the children of the rulers in there, also pure bloods, sent us the message that they support us and they formed a small group there to be our sister group and make our voice be known around the world.

We need all the Vampires, from all around the world to know us, learn who we are and join us. The fact that we have the son of the current Ruler, an _Uchiha_ , helps a lot. Basically, we are abusing Sasuke`s _name_ for advertising our purpose, but he doesn't care as long as we are successful."

Ino was positive and aware of the fact that in order to unify the two colliding opposing worlds –Vampires and humans- patience, eloquence, delicacy and tenacious political skills were gemstone virtues, but their group was a proud possessor of such fine people and Sasuke`s family name and the reputation he earned through sheer personal contribution and work, were making their voice be heard through all the world.

They were taking baby steps and put the bricks, one by one, in order to build something so solid and everlasting.

Maybe Sakura couldn't grasp the implication of her words, but to Ino and her kinsmen, it meant the world; it was a noble wild dream that was worth fighting for –and giving their life for, ultimately.

Basically, it gave them a reason to continue their perennial existence. Sasuke, Naruto -who never considered him anything below his own brother- and the others have opened up her eyes to how blind, shallow and materialistic Vampires were by default, even if their taste for aesthetics seemed to be overwhelming because of its brilliance.

They only live for supreme luxury, the Balls and receptions, their biased rivalry, the carnal debauched pleasures, human blood and ridicule and abuse the mortals.

That sort of never-ending living was horrifying and ultimately undesirable by the ones who were sharing her group`s ideology. Living like a parasite was not making them better than people who had no ideal and no determination in life, only living on others` expenses and meaningless.

"So… among the clans you have just named… _which_ one do you guys belong to?" Inquisitive jadeite orbs cruised to the hand that was resting on the steering wheel, not able to see any symbol engraved down her wrist, since Ino`s palm was facing down.

The dazzling female Vampire with honey painted locks cocked her head at her, grinning proudly at Sakura.

"We are the most reputed, intriguing, loathed and hunted down clan of all the above, my dear." She flipped her hand so that her wrist was facing upwards, showing a smiling and nodding in understanding rosette the Greek letter tattooed on her opaline skin. "We are **Lambda** : the _rebels."_

 _Children of the_ _sun._

"What did I get myself into?" Sakura couldn't help but utter, while letting her finger trail the contour of the letter, understanding the exact level of danger that the group she became affiliated to was facing everyday: really _high._

So basically, Sasuke and his peers were openly _hunted_ and chased all along the Vampire`s world. Oh dear…

As if sensing where her dread and the suddenly appalled aura enveloping the beautiful rose haired woman, Ino explained and assured her that there was no way they would have resisted so far with that sort of attitude, was not because they had power, but because it was a truth that every single Vampire up to the latest half-breed knew: the rebels were led by no other than Uchiha _Sasuke_ –the son of the Leader of the Immortals himself- and that name alone was enough to bring apprehension and dread on anyone`s spine.

Plus, the other _children of the prophecy_ , Uzumaki _Naruto_ , was his best friend and anyone with a functional neuron could easily imagine how ridiculously strong they could be **together.**

Albeit, it wasn't brutal power the way they wanted to change the world for the better and bring peace between human kind and the Vampires. It was _friendship_ and _bonds._ They didn't have to be scared by them because that would automatically imply tyranny and domination, no.

The concept that linked all the rebels was based on equality, respect, trust and ultimately _love._ "Don't worry Sakura. You are safe with us. In fact, I could say you are the most protected one since you live with Sasuke. There is nothing out there who could defend you more than he does. He is ridiculously strong and one of the children of the prophecy."

Yes, that much was obvious, because, even in his weakened drunk state, Sasuke has been able to prevent them both from failing plus there was absolutely no way that anyone could have not notice it in everything that the midnight haired son of Fugaku, the fact that he was incredibly strong.

It was the kind of studied, vibrant and tenacious power that let anyone know they were facing _the real deal_ and not a buffoon hiding behind his obnoxious bravado, no. Strength was oozing through every single pore of his hot hard steel body and it was both delicious and frightening.

To a woman who came in contact with his allure, it was magnetizing. "Prophecy?" Sakura arched a fine eyebrow at the golden haired woman before her, while Ino narrowed her orbs, already having the lights of the parking lot in her field of view, deciding to where should she park her pink blob in order to not have it scratch again, by alcoholics, delinquents and druggies, who found it funny to express their street art by covering it graffiti or deflate her wheels.

 _Damn sexist assholes._

"This is something complicated that I myself don`t have all the details of but it has to do with our common _ancestor_ , _Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, t_ he first born Vampire. He had two sons, which are rumored to have been so strong, that their spirits themselves never perished, but continued to spread through the generations until they found their mirror image in our times. And they are Naruto and Sasuke.

I am sure you have seen the small moon on Sasuke`s left hand. It means that he is the successor of the oldest son Indra, hence the representative of the Yin part of the universe. Naruto is his Yang counterpart, Ashura`s image. I know, it sounds complicated and trust me, it is, but I can totally assure you that they are almost like _Gods_ in terms of strength. This is the reason why not even Fugaku-sama himself can touch Sasuke, nor control him. He is simply on a league of his own."

She wasn't lying to Sakura, but there were just more things regarding Sasuke and Naruto that not even Ino, who has been close friends to them for so many decades, was aware about.

It was something that went beyond the level of understanding of a regular Vampire, but even she knew that it only gave them a privileged place among their kinsmen.

Although, another painful fact was that along with a tremendous amount of power, there came huge responsibilities.

Not only they couldn't abuse their powers and try to turn the tables into their favor, but also both Naruto and Sasuke were hounded and harassed constantly by anyone who was hungry for power. Specimens like Orochimaru who would kill to have his hands on the valuable Sharingan and the power of the Yin or Yang release at his disposal.

She suspected that even Fugaku was so adamant in making Sasuke his successor, just because he knew that there would hardly be any other Vampire who could outsmart and stomp him.

Plus, there were times when Sasuke and Naruto were talking about other creatures –who weren't resembling Vampires or humans- who were lurking from other dimensions, ones that were invisible to anyone else that didn`t poses their skills and eyes, silently observing, calculating and making plans to find the origins of their power, but they were keeping it as a secret from anyone else, so that topic was something that only Naruto and Sasuke knew the details of and Ino was positive that whatever it was making them so secretive and occult, it was probably something huge.

"Ok… it is _not_ like this is intimidating or something…" Sakura mumbled as her jadeite orbs fell on her lap, fidgeting with her fingers nervously and they both burst out in laughter, realizing that somehow, Ino was feeling the same.

"Don't worry. I am quite good with this things and I can assure you that if Sasuke chose you for whatever promise you guys have, then he will never hurt you. Never. He won't go against his principles, even if it costs him his life. And you might be able to clean his soul from what that slut of his former fiancé did and help him to open up to love once again.

He might not show it but fighting every minute of his life, going against his father and living under a constant alertness, takes a toll on him. Sakura, please, if you do have sentiments for him, any kind of feelings, help him find **happiness** again."

Ino`s first reaction upon hearing that Sasuke has brought Sakura to his home to drink human blood, was to erupt.

Their group was set on befriending humans, make peace with them and stop using them as meals, so it was only natural that anyone who transgressed those rules would be deemed a defector and ultimately, a _traitor_ , but then she realized that it was hardly the case.

There was clearly much _more_ than just blood between Sasuke and Sakura and whatever it was, it looked beautiful, innocent and promising.

The blonde female Vampire parked the close to the entrance, as she killed the purring engine, both the women stepping out of the car and heading towards the front doors, seeing that the night was cool and serene and there weren't many customers at that hour.

Ino immediately linked her arm with Sakura, as it was the most natural gesture in the world and the rosette understood that it was something spontaneous and heartedly, and not someone she did out of politeness.

She felt utterly overwhelmed. Those Vampires were amazingly warm and patient with her even going as far as to entrust such secrets to a stranger and Sakura found herself whirling in a world of gratitude and… overwhelmed.

There was suddenly a lot of pressure amassed pressing on her shoulders, but not necessarily a heavy one; it was rather a responsibility. "Ino… I can't do that now. Because I… asked for the same thing from him."

Cobalt blue orbs went wide open like the sun, halting her moments to gasp dramatically at Sakura, but she came as a lead actress of a teenage movie.

"You… you asked him to make _you_ happy? Really? Oh my, this is GREAT! You two… are made for each other! Oh this is totally ROMANTIC!"

Sakura had no idea of why was Ino beaming and flailing like that news was the happiest thing she has heard, but to the experienced blonde who fancied studying relationships and interaction between people and Vampires, being an avid digger of gossip and romance, it was the perfect scenario of a Shakespearean story, in all the plenitude of the romantic idyllic and musical language, tragically stories with a lot of substance underneath and a strong moralizing message.

Sasuke and Sakura`s back stories were so _antagonistic,_ yet so downright  complementary, that it was almost like a dream.

She was exactly the pure flower that incited his natural manly sense to protect and love her, at the same time, she wasn't stupid and naïve.

Sakura was sharp, strongly moral and elegant and with strong beliefs that she was sticking to, so she was also someone to spark his interest in more than one aspect; someone who could eventually share an _eternity_ with him and not only his _bed_.

Ino definitely understood the reason why Sasuke seemed to get so attached to her and saved her: Sakura was someone who has seen all the PEIN he has seen, hence she understood, even if he wasn't complaining or showing it.

He was lonely. But Sasuke didn't want a woman to pity him and stay with him because she felt sympathy. He had his friends for that and his mother. He needed someone to feel him, for what he was and share his views and accept his darkness, not only as someone who needed to be pampered.

But Sakura herself needed someone like that and she didn't know if they could work together and learn from each other what they both needed after all, she wasn't the only one seeking happiness.

Sasuke was doing it unconsciously as well, even if he was focused and distracted with rebelling against his family. He was doing it for peace and happiness, and somehow, he was considerate towards each other and that was the reason why, even if he was drunk and weak, his heart was the one to react to her wanting to commit suicide.

He couldn't help it, it was instinctual and that was why he was so harsh and adamant in not allowing her to take her life.

"You still didn't tell me about what they do. If it is ok with me asking…" The chartreuse eyed young woman whispered to Ino, as they were passing random shelves, throwing different supplies inside the shopping cart and the blonde has responded in the same soft way, so as making sure that no one would peep at their conversation.

"Oh yeah, remember about the half-breeds and their greediness for wealth and blood? They are involved in all sorts of illegal stuff, like drugs and prostitution and sometimes, illegal substances and we have this feeling that they kidnap people for Vampires to drink their blood, but somehow, they do the _dirty_ work in their place, hence get paid for it and have some sort of truce, because normally, the Vampires should not allow our race to be tainted by them and kill the half-breeds.

So our group, namely the boys, would go to their nest and remind them that the streets and the underground don't belong to them and we are watching them closely. Frankly, they play the unofficial vigilantes, because the Police can't do anything against them."

In all honesty, it wasn't the answer that Sakura has expected to hear. Frankly, she thought more about street fights between gangs of Vampires for supremacy, but she had her doubts since Sasuke was hardly the type to jump into such puerile actions.

Slowly but surely, Ino was presenting a bigger picture of how their lives truly was and Sakura came to the conclusion that being part of their group was a very heavy task. Basically, they never rested.

She felt tired, but in the presence of the Immortals, _time_ had but one _meaning,_ namely _none._

Two days in the presence of Sasuke`s group felt like two months in terms of experience, feelings and tiredness, but those Vampires were having amazing energy supplies, living free of the restraint of counting down minutes.

They probably had watches so as to not be late to school or jobs, and that was a fascinating thing –to not be bothered by the presence of time, laughing into his implacable face and defy it. "This sounds like an action movie."

"Yeah, but it isn't that _fantabulous_ if you think that not only they have to see all those orgies, but they have to stain their hands with filthy blood. Usually, this isn't _our_ job. It is the Hunters` one, but they too are outnumbered."

"Hunters?"

"The _Vampire Hunters_ are like the equivalent of your Police Force if you want. Like special troops. They are in charge of keeping the balance between humans, half-breeds and Vampires and maintain the order, but of course, they cannot do anything about the Vampires, so at least they could take care of the half-breeds.

Some of them, starting with their leader, are also pure blood Vampires, who share our point of view, even if they don't actually fully support us since they think we try to act in their place, hence overthrown them, but they get along with Sasuke and Naruto really good, so they let it pass, as long as we don't interfere too much and weaken their authority."

"This is odd to hear a vampire fighting against… his brethren." Although it might sound twisted, it did made sense.

Having so many rebel groups of Vampires, as well as the secrecy and conspiracy between their involvement into the Governments and the most influential organizations, there had to be a group arouse from their own members to maintain the balance; an _independent_ group that was in charge with controlling the illegal things that their kinsmen were tempted to do, since normal police force –human- weren't able to handle Vampires, nor did they have the 'technology', so it was only natural that an equivalent might have been found into the world of Immortals, and they were the Vampire Hunters.

Their purpose was to be impartial and independent into dealing with Vampires or half-breeds who were violating laws –both human and vampire.

This way, the power of enforcing coercion over the transgressors wasn't part of Fugaku`s attributions, avoiding a situation where he would have too much power of deciding upon his own free will and eventually, lead to abuses and discrimination.

Unfortunately, they didn't have that many adepts by their side, since anyone would hate on the ones that had the authority of public security and maintain order.

Just as the Rebels, the Hunters were universally recognized by the Vampires, but they were loathed, feared, their work was many times inefficient and they lacked personnel. So that was the reason why, Sasuke`s group was helping the Hunters in dealing with more problematic cases –such as Orochimaru and his web of illegal affairs- but they did it in the shadows and clandestine; it wasn't like they wanted to contest their authority, it was a _friendly_ help and even if the Hunters weren't exactly pleased with their actions, it did prove to be efficient.

"Well she is not an ordinary woman, either. Uchiha`s main rivals to be more precise. The _Senju_ family of old Pure Blood Vampires. And their daughter is the Leader of the Vampire Hunters, Princess _Tsunade_ Senju."

Ino`s azurite orbs filled with glossy stars, as she brought her hands upon her heart, exhaling dreamy.

"She is any girl`s role model in both power and beauty. She is amazing!" As they stopped in front of the toiletries, Ino took a fancy white bottle of shower gel, opening it up and held it towards Sakura, urging her to smell and express her opinion about the fragrance. "Do you like white lilies? I love them, they are my favorite flowers."

She let her small nose sniffle as her emerald orbs beamed and she nodded energetically to the blonde. "I like the idea of having independent dedicated women to fight for a good cause. Yes, it smells divine. I want one too."

"Yes, indeed. And hear this out. One of her right hand men, Hatake Kakashi, is the Principal of the college we are all attending and the same you will attend too. Isn't it great? Of course, no one but us know and… I think I said to much hehe."

A sheepish smile bud on Ino`s glossy lips as she rubbed the back of her her nape while they stroll to other shelves, filling their basket with every single cosmetic that Ino deemed as 'absolutely necessary', such as various fragrances of shower gels, bath foam, floral glitter body lotions, massage gels and soaps, and Sakura felt like she was on a spa session not shopping.

What she didn't know, was the fact that the conniving devilish Ino was totally taking advantage of the Vampire`s sharp senses, which were enhanced and keener than humans` senses, so Sakura could totally fructify –and twist- Sasuke`s high sense of smell and outer perception and make him go _crazy_ with all the floral and fruity exotic aromas that Ino coaxed –forced- Sakura to buy, under the pretense of being mandatory for a girl to delight and spoil herself with such feminine fragrances and aromatherapy.

Oh, wasn't she absolutely genius in terms of relations and seduction? Ino was very proud of herself. Now, she should patiently wait for the next day to come, yank the rosette from the boring college, go in a round of insane shopping to the best branded shops and hunt down for the sexiest lace night gowns and garments.

 _Oh, she couldn't wait!_

"Really? I didn't expect so many Vampires and humans to be involved. Does he have this job as a Principal just to keep an eye on the students?" What? The Principal of Konoha's University was a Vampire Hunter? Were those Vampires for real?

"Probably, who knows? He always bragged about wanting to be a teacher but I guess you are right. It is Tsunade`s way to keep an eye on the teenagers since they are the most vulnerable, consequently an easy prey and probably to keep an eye on us as well."

When they got to the shelves were pads were resting, Sakura asked Ino. "Ahm… Ino can I ask you something very personal? If Vampires react to blood then… will I drive Sasuke insane and NOT in the good sense when… you know, I will have THOSE days?"

"You mean when you are on your period?" The rosette nodded in confirmation. "Hehe, actually no and this is the beauty of it. You see, you have your period because you didn't get pregnant, which means you don't bear life. So what leaves your body is like a… dead tissue. Dead cells and since Sasuke is immortal, he cannot _feel_ death, nor sense it. Plus, blood is a _tiny_ part of what period truly is, so no, you are safe and so are they. Though, it would be funny to see them being tortured for five days and avoid us because of that." They both laughed hard at that, it was indeed a funny thought.

"This is good. I don't want to be embarrassed, even though Sasuke has been a gentleman and didn't make me feel uncomfortable."

"He truly is, even though he is kind of old fashioned, but I guess it is because of his harsh strict family upbringing. I have never actually seen Sasuke being disrespectful towards a _lady_." Ino subtly emphasized the word with the connotation as a respectful Madame; the libidinous slutty female Vampires were another story and triggered other sorts of reactions from Sasuke, but it wasn't Sakura`s case.

She didn't mind the way he talked it was refreshing in a world of cursing and gibberish guys of his age, he was like a Count.

"Yeah, it`s kind of hard to imagine someone like him being anything but ho- polite!"

"Aha!" Ino pointed an accusing finger towards Sakura, who was beat red by the moment she understood her slip of tongue. She couldn't believe that she almost said that she found Sasuke to be…

"You wanted to say ' **hot** ', didn't you? Haha, I knew it!" She threw a hand around Sakura`s creaky shoulders, pinching her cheek, which was getting a beat hue of the raven haired Uchiha`s favorite food. "Sooo… what was going on between the two of you before I came in, hm?"

When no words came out of her pursed lips, Sakura knew that Ino has caught her with the hand in the cookie jar.

.

.

.

* * *

"No, please-"

A ruthless slap connected with her ivory damp cheek, making her head whip over her shoulder at the force of the impact, crudely reverberating the cold steel sound of skin hitting skin through the night.

"I just luuv lambs that beg." He rumbled deep into his chest, low and mischievous, while the hands that were dug into her soft flesh had her pressed into the peeling wall beside.

A nose went shamefully into caramel light hair, stifling the feminine scent, as the girl was paralyzed in fear, sobbing and imploring.

"Hm, peaches and roses. Not bad." An abrasive wet tongue latched on her throat, as his hand roughly tucked her head backwards, pulling at her soft disheveled hair, and took a lascivious long lick along her throat.

The feel of life pulsating warmly and delicious into her sweet body tantalized the beast within her captor, as he howled like a beast to the crescent moon above, laughing and suckling on the newly exposed skin of her collarbone and the swell of her heart shaped cleavage, keeping her in place, as the woman was trying to free herself in vain.

Her airy cotton middle-length dress was tattered and the thorn straps were lolling down her bare shoulders as deep crimson red fangs and nail scratches were gleaming and clashing with the ivory of her skin, tears spilling from her hyacinth blue glistening eyes.

A calloused hand groped her left breast through the soft fabric of the dress she wore and squeezed her all the while the other hand kept her arm pinned above her head, making any struggles to escape that humility be futile and her screams were begging in vain.

In that back darkened alley, secured by the abandoned factories around, no one would come to her rescue. "Aaah! Don't... no-"

Dark bloodshot narrowed indomitable orbs blazed with fury as he slapped her again against her delicate face harder, and the helpless female hit her head on the rough wall behind, a fine line of luscious blood spraying from her full lips.

Her once fancy pink rouge was scribbled around the contour of her mouth, while the leaking vines of black rimmel and kohl cat-eyes pencil emphasized the grotesque image of a porcelain shattered gothic doll. "I warned you to stop fucking screaming or else..."

Worst part of the horrifying scene, was that the brute abusing her body and brutally beating her wasn't alone. He was accompanied by another of his kind, with equally thirsty savage eyes and daring hands and both let their urges control the course of the raping scene.

In the back of her mind, the lady knew what would come and there was no way that she alone could ward off the danger and keep her virtue, but panic and terror were making her head spin, as her lips were utterly constant prayers to the Heavens above.

To think it was her free day and she just wanted to spend some time with her girlfriends in a club they suggested, before she has been hauled by two strangers when she passed a less populated part of that neighborhood, oblivious to the dangers lurking from the shadows. It was just bad karma.

She tried in vain to squirm and trash against the forceful hold without luck, eyes squeezed and clouded by burning tears, while a pair of lips was trying to find the way to her appetizing lips, but she kept on shaking her head, no.

Something soft was sliding down her inner thighs and the girl realized in apprehension that it was her panties that were being lugged down her slim legs and a pair of sharp razor like teeth grazed along the silk exposed flesh. Her heart lapped from her chest, resting painfully down her throat as she was drowning in salty tears.

A libidinous sleek tongue was tracing the sensitive exposed skin on the apex between her legs, rolling over her lace lips. "S-Stop… p-please n-n-no…"

Eyes that were beseeching and conjuring the clemency of the Heaven flew open in apprehension as a pair of steel blade cold and sharp fangs punctured the flesh concealing her pulse, penetrating the pulsating hot vein, greedily sucking on her blood as her flesh was being ripped and bruised.

Unfortunately for the woman who went petrified at the violent electrical discharge bolting along her spine, his saliva couldn't numb the pain and produce pleasure –he could never give her _pleasure_ from that brutal act.

Then the pain stroke her and she caterwauled, until the heart-breaking sound of her broken voice tattooed on the stars and the silent witnessing solitary buildings.

"AAH!" Even the moon turned an insolent shade of magenta and the air felt with hot heavy sweat, abused flesh, tears, blood and lust.

The woman with the rich color of chestnut in her tresses knew that she wasn't the only victim, but she cursed everything, even the God she avidly entrusted her fate to, feeling her body go limp and numb by the pain.

Tears of agony, anguish and misery were immixing into the blood that stained her long locks and her lips were fluttering and turned a light shade of lavender. Her skin was glowing with a sick pallor as the vital fluid was departing from her system.

Vaguely, she felt the corset of her dress –her new pure white dress and sewed with big roses and tulips flowers, a handmade gift from her grandmother- being ripped along the side of her protruding ribs, leaving a small rounded ivory breast sprung free from its bindings and a scratching barbarous unpolished clutch the delicate mound, leaving a bruise in the shape of his hand imprinted.

Muffled indecent curses and harsh sounds of sexually aroused men were ringing through her screeching ears, as both were tasting and drinking from her skin, biting in various places of choice.

Her mind was starting to automatically shut down, the lack of blood lulling her into giving in to darkness. Her head fell listless on her shoulder and a weak plea ripped from her chest.

Two vicious hands coiled around her thighs, roughly spread her thighs open wider and hoisting her lower body up to give her second rapist a perfect angle to hungrily eat her dry core out, suckling greedily from her, hoping to get a taste of her fruity nectar, in vain because she couldn't possibly be aroused by that.

His sharp long nails were puncturing the skin of her legs until blood started to upsurge from her angry reddened flesh and one last mellow cry for help left her weeping lips, before the metallic sound of a zipper yanked down reached her. "Help me... someone please... s-stop..."

It became unbearable to fight back the vertigo twirling into her head, her vision was benumbed by her burning dry eyes, the immensurable pain was merging with the dread of being cruelly violated –unfortunately enough, she was pure as a maiden- while no one would know, as well as the dread from encountering creatures resembling to the popular ancient stories.

It felt like a horrendous nightmare, where she wasn't sure about the outcome or if she would survive to see the eyes and smiles of her dear ones.

Dejected, she let her glassy turquoise orbs give up to the heaviness and she exhaled deeply, finding her vocal chords unable to produce anymore sounds.

She felt cold, that brute –whatever demon he was- was still nourishing from her blood and pinched her nipples hard and rough, grinding his body against her soft one, as something hard, engorged and promising immense pain was poking on her unprepared small entrance, while she was being kept in place and spread opened, to be entered merciless-

* * *

"When a lady tells you to stop," A voice with a timbre richer than the fines cognac and chocolate velvet resounded into the electrical night, subduing the harsh groans of the excited males and the young woman`s mournful wails, but it held so much virulence and rancor that it cut the night`s veil in half, tossing it towards the Seven Horizons and swallowed the very quintessence of darkness, successfully making both the defilers halt frozen in their assault, as a lightening has discharged down their columns and pulverized their contracted bodies. "You _stop_."

Before they had the opportunity to even squint or crock their eyes to follow the occult lead of the silk embroidered masculine sensual voice, the two creatures found themselves hoisted from the woman they were disrespecting and tainting, totted through the sharp cool night air and thrown into the opposite wall.

A deep piercing blast of bricks being cracked erupted from the buildings, being accompanied by feral grows in both pain and indignation.

But they were fast to ricochet back, and materialized in front of the two newcomers, in all the repugnance of their half human and half Vampires, seeping blood from their sharp thick fangs, panting harshly.

Dust was oozing from their ripped clothes, dark blood like tar dripped from their open cuts and the glares shot from their equally stained bloody narrowed orbs blasted like million needles. Their fists were clenched on their sides and stances were dropped into a common beastly fighting stance.

Their two new rivals didn't even flinch or quail in front of their display of sheer dementia and the humanity they forgo in order to obtain power, being as implacable and intractable as cold Greek statues or Olympian deities, laughing in the time`s face, defying seconds, decades, millions of sunrises and the falls of the moon. They were mere flickers of dust and dirt for their absolutely steel eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"You… will pay for that, you son of a bitch!" Was that supposed to sound menacing and intimidating? A perfect set of fine eyebrows in the color of the night arched mockingly, silently daring them to take the much anticipated step forward and unleash the orgy, so that they could properly be put into their places.

"Tch… _half-breeds_ and their unlettered presence…" _Sasuke_ started in a velvet baritone voice, that he dropped two octaves lower, to make it more resonant and almost robotically, and a shiver of dread flickered along his disgusting interlocutor`s spine, by the lack of emotion into the way he talked –a flawless doll, with an empty carcass. "Always succeed in making me feel repulsive over my own kinsmen."

He whirled his hand through the charcoal kissed disarray silk locks, exhaling heavily like he was trying to control himself from turning around and leave the place which was filled with a stench so pungent, that it made his stomach churn in repulsiveness. It was always Orochimaru`s lackeys and lapdogs the ones to be affiliated to the most ludicrous and concupiscent affairs and they always managed to get him annoyed and stirred beyond belief.

To put it frankly and uncensored, the Prince of the Vampires wished nothing more than to lash forward and _slit_ their throats with his katana.

But he couldn't because, firstly, it wasn't his job to be a hero or a Cerberus –it was the Hunters`- and secondly, it went against their doctrine of peace and Sasuke knew that, as a blazon of his pacifist group, the very Leader couldn't be promoting such a violent attitude during the night, while he militated for peace and friendship during the day. He would be losing credibility, so he mentally took a step back.

 _Oh, how lucky they were._

Without further notice, the two half-breed Vampires flickered to Sasuke and Naruto in what would normally be considered beyond the Speed of _Sound_ and transcend human`s untrained eye, but to Sasuke and his solar tanned best friend, they moved in slow motion, and that was the reason why the two haven't sketched a single gesture to step back or defend themselves.

That was the scale of a time that didn't pass for Immortals: a _heartbeat._ It all happened during the span of a pumping of the heart.

"Aw man, and here I was hoping that they would at least be decent…" Naruto exhaled deeply, heartedly disappointed that the prospect from that night didn't look promising at all.

Last week, they had to deal with a pathetic group of renegades and half-breeds who have joined their force to rob a military base full of firearms and they were, by Naruto`s standards, sucking major balls and not represented any challenge.

Honestly, the golden haired Uzumaki was getting sick of taunting and attempt to stimulate his raven haired friend to spar with him, because Uchiha Sasuke was unflappable, hence he was no fun, since he wasn't reacting most of the times.

Naruto casually avoided a well-aimed speeding punch, which threatened to collide with his grinning whiskered tanned figure, by sidestepping like he was clashing with amateurs, then let his normally aquamarine orbs –turned into the distinctive pattern of a _Sage_ frog- flash open and when he did that, the first thing he did was to smile wickedly.

Then he punched the half-breed Vampire -with an interesting silvery-snow hair- into his jaw cracking it and sent him crushing down, as a pretty large hole dug into the ground.

Shikamaru who has been straying into the shadows has run towards the trembling woman as she was looking petrified in disbelief at such horrendous scene before her eyes, helping her up, while she seemed reticent at first but he had a friendly demeanor around him.

He peeped at Sasuke who was humiliating her rapist - who foolishly thought so mighty and high of himself- with an astonishing display of supremacy and lethal finesse, mentally rolling his eyes at his two best friends.

 _What a bunch of show-offs._

He knew that the only reason why Sasuke was being spectacular was because he was silently competing with Naruto like they always did, playing every part of their rivalry like an intense choir of violins at the chorus.

The Uchiha merely blocked a frontal kick, which was supposed to be swift and lighting fast, countering it in a fluid elegant motion, by flickering his body like a twinkling star before the viewer had the chance to blink once, missing him then he appeared from his back, twisting Orochimaru`s henchmen`s arm until the bone cracked and lifted him up, just to whirl on his heel and crush him down the ground planting his heel down his chest to keep him down.

"What the fuck-"

"Who the fuck do you think you are to spoil our fun, you cocky motherfucker?!" The other who unglued from the wall spat to them viciously and discourteously.

Shikamaru wrapped his coat over the woman since the wind was blowing and her clothes were tarnished and ripped on her sides, concealing her modesty, and she immediately relished into the warmth, gripping it to her chest and she was clinging to him.

"Don't be afraid, Miss. We are the _good_ guys. You are safe now." Shikamaru wrapped a hand gently around her shoulders to provide comfort. He was hardly showing affection and pity by the felt his blood boil at the sight pathetic of the abused woman and the vista in general was making him sick and strengthened his resolve to put an end of their reign and the miseries they did.

The half-breeds and Vampires were terrorizing the humans and turned the dark streets into the walks into the lion`s den.

They had to do something and put an end to it before it was too late and many others would be killed. They have saved that lady, but what about the others that they couldn't save? No one was omnipotent, not even them.

He also observed the way she curled her fingers around the base of her neck, trembling and sobbing, olive orbs narrowing at the suspicious familiar gesture.

He immediately understood that she has been bitten, hence the troubles she had in keeping balance –she was clinging to his arm for dear life- so he strengthened his hold around her, feeling sorry that he couldn't personally do _that_ for her and make it quicker, but he respect her and didn't want to scare the young lady even more and expose their identities, so he simply slipped a hand into his vest, took a badge that was embed with their special Vampire _healing saliva_ and placed it on her neck, after their brief silent eye lock. "This will help numb the pain."

"T-thank... y-you."

"You don't have to thank us. It's our job." Shikamaru threw the girl a small hearted smirk, turning to peep at his two comrades, while they were lecturing –namely beating the hell out of them- the two repulsive creatures before them, wondering whether they weren't wasting time in trying to open up their eyes, or not.

What was more interesting, was Sasuke`s undocked flip of attitude while dealing with the half-breeds and Vampires that he found revolt against, being completely _different_ from the gentile and gallant man that Sakura has met.

His acting artistry and cleverness were scary. He was staying before the two fallen down half human half Vampires, hands casually loitering into the pockets of his black polished leather pants, stance unforgiving, defying, straight and proud and his eyes –the only part of his anatomy that dipped down to acknowledge their presence before him- were keeping them pinned down in a suffocating intense stare. "You filthy miscreant lowlife criminals make me sick."

"You son of a bitch-" The Uchiha drag an exasperated _sigh_ as he pressed the one he had under his shoe further into the ground and Naruto briefly wondered whether his friend would turn him into a squashed omelet.

Azurite amused orbs turned to the other idiot who lunged himself towards Sasuke, enraged and bleeding, snickering and intertwining his hands upon his chest. "I will send you two straight to Hell and back-"

The young woman that Shikamaru was trying to comfort let out a short shriek when seeing the speed of her attacker, dashing forward to the beautiful raven haired man, because Sasuke made absolutely zero attempts to even turn his head over his shoulder and acknowledge his presence.

Shikamaru turned her into his arms, holding her tight to his chest and whispered down her ear. "Don't worry, he will be all right."

 _Who was Sasuke trying to impress? Cocky braggadocio Uchiha._

"What the-" Orochimaru`s proud experiment came to an abrupt stop, while a pair of crimson blood sharp like razor blades orbs, flickered in the menacing form of a star, successfully trapping him into a genjutsu collapsing on the hard concrete, motionless and crying like a baby, loud, painful and pathetic.

The world that Sasuke has created for him consisted in menacing huge white snakes curling around his body, constricting him and biting his flesh.

On the background of the leaking bloody landscape, he could hear Uchiha`s disimpassioned chocolate smooth merciless baritone voice, cutting into his very soul like an icicle, spilling poisonous venom.

"I should end up your pathetic existence right this instant. Such behavior is unpardonable. If you call yourself the _superior_ race... then act like elites."

Sasuke freed his captor from his illusion, tucking on his collar and easily hauling him up in the air to align with his terrorized eyes, as the half-breed creature was spilling blood and panting harshly, his once daring muscles and body going limp.

His eyes widened in apprehension when he realized that he _recognized_ those unrelenting bottomless _onyx_ eyes, which pierced into the depths of his soul and he started to tremble like jelly. Sasuke kicked the other one he had trapped under his feet sending him flying to his blonde haired friend, who was having too much fun and shooting roots. "Y-Y-You are... U-Uchiha S- _Sasuke_ -sama?

" Sasuke fought against his escalading impatience of letting his ebony orbs hit the back of his head, but he wouldn't do such an inelegant gesture, even in front of those sickening lame excuses of Vampires.

Observant, weren't they? "What gave me away, the _hair_?" His eyes? Naruto snickered as he had a firm hold on the equally jittery comrade of the one Sasuke was humiliating, as Shikamaru snorted at the way Fugaku`s son was mocking and ridicule them.

The girl into his arms turned around to gasp at the spectacle and a wave of tranquility seemed to have traipsed to her, since she stopped trembling realizing that the unexpected saviors were on a league of their own and clearly not in danger.

But apparently, insanity was having interesting side effects on their already messed up brains. "We have heard the rumors that the next in line has grown _soft_. Who wants a _pussy_ to lead the Vampires?"

The one that Naruto had under a strong hold, keeping his hands squashed down his back, found an unforeseen pool of energy and jerked from his grip, but Naruto simply punch him square in the jaw cracking it open, and sent him floating backwards, hissing with an uncharacteristic fierceness.

"Watch your mouth when addressing your _Prince_ or you will pray for death to come and take you after we are done with you."

"I in return, will never be a _Leader_ for rats like you. _Snakes."_ Feeling that he was getting too irritated and his message has been embed into their skills, Sasuke nonchalantly let the distinctive pattern of his Mangekyou Sharingan gleam and immediately two skeleton huge hands, smoldering with a purple phosphorescence, seething through the night and have them arise the two half-breed experiments up in the air, having them stabbed with a bristling indomitable stare that knocked the wind out of their lungs. "Should crawl in the ground and not attempt to fly like _hawks_."

He knew they understood his silent message, for it was addressed solely to Orochimaru, who was the master puppeteer behind the curtain and had the uncanny ability to always keep in contact with his subordinates and witness everything that happened, seeing the world through their eyes.

Naruto stroll to his raven haired smug friend, having a lighter in his right hand and turned the spark wheel in one rapid motion, pressing the ignition button, holding it proudly before their horrified eyes, grinning. "Time to wrap it up guys. Fun is over."

He grasped the hand of the one who was closer to him, tucked his shirt up to reveal his wrist, and wordlessly, he approached the flame to the lighter to his skin, dragging it along the _familiar tattoo_ as he shouted out in pain, trying to squirm with no success since Sasuke was keeping both at bay, looking lazily at Naruto, who was having fun burning and erasing the tattoos –the mark of their affiliation to a Clan of Vampires- from their skin.

He repeated the motion to the other one, until everything that could be distinguished was the red burned peeling skin and a scar around.

Having the crest of their respective Clans erased was the biggest shame in the world of Immortals, a clear token of the fact that one wasn't able to defend his principles and secure his place among his peers –a clear sign of weakness- and it equalized automatically to fall prey to the other Clans.

Not belonging to any respective group and fraternity, was even worse than being a Rebel like the Uchiha successor and his friends, and that method of erasing the tattoo was used as a punishment to the ones who committed a sin.

"Teme, you were right. This fuckers are _Omega_. It looks like that snake Orochimaru needs a painful lesson."

"No." Sasuke smoothly replied to his friend, while tossing the two weaklings –which were put in a comatose state by his genjutsu, limp and motionless- into the trashcans, as the metallic muffled sound rung through the eerie atmosphere.

It was just obvious from the way he was pressing every syllable, calm, composed and painfully dark, that the man resembling a white serpent, Orochimaru, was making him grossed out.

"We are not permitting him to dictate the course of our steps. We walk on our own path without swaying and we will deal with it on our own way." As Naruto`s golden eyebrow arched in confusion, as he traipsed towards Shikamaru, seeing that he got cozy with the lady they saved just in time, fighting the urge to turn around and empty the contents of his stomach.

His smell and his sixth sense of reading auras and depict the evil in everyone, was making him sick and disgusted, and the stains of blood on the girl`s tarnished clothes and skin was burning his nose. Sasuke slant a hand into his pocket, fingering his phone, scrolling down his contacts list. The man answered on his first call. "Kakashi, I have a job for you."

"The Vampire Hunters? His father, Lord Fugaku-sama will definitely not like this." Shikamaru noticed apathetically, orbs slightly narrowed at the Uchiha before him, who was giving their Principal some directions. He did not like it when they intertwined with the hunters` work.

No one was content with their approach, not even the ones they were ailing and they were right.

It wasn't their job to interfere, but on the other hand… his eyes fell on the girl and suddenly his temples sizzled and throbbed. If they didn't help, then many similar tragedies would happen and the Vampire hunters could do nothing about it.

It was a double-edged sword.

"I know." Naruto on the other hand, had a mischievous grin about him, cackling at his questioning friend. "And Teme knows it as well." Shikamaru didn't need to ask for an explanation for he knew exactly what was his friend referring too.

If Fugaku was extremely displeased with his son`s contumacious defying behavior and his refusal to be his Heir –he didn't quite have a say in that aspect- then the fact that he was so openly fighting against him and his brethren, laughing into his face that he couldn't be controlled, but accepting to help him run his corporations and make good business with his father, was making the Vampire Leader enraged.

"Do not be late. I have more important matters to occupy my time with than baby-sitting nitwits."

It might have seemed that Sasuke was being rude and harsh to Kakashi, but in reality, he was just being himself, only less elegant in front of the ones he should enforce authority and appear as ruthless.

He was grateful for that man`s great work and even though the silvery haired Principal was a mortal joining the Vampire hunters, he was still an enigmatic character.

But he was trustworthy, he understood and acknowledged Sasuke and his group`s work and had a silent agreement to accept their help.

And Sasuke has always been fair-play with Hatake, for he tried to interfere as less as possible into his work, so that his jurisdiction wouldn't be diminished and inform him when he needed to interfere. Their cooperation was based on trusteeship, confidence and respect.

"This is getting problematic." Shikamaru noticed while Sasuke approached the small group, ending his conversation with Kakashi, knowing that the Hunters would be there soon, dispatching a troop.

"There have been three attacks in the span of this week. Now we have three dead victims on the Vampires' account."

It was a painful truth: while they were striving to prove it to the mortals that there were Immortals who tried to come in friendly terms, they couldn't gain their faith if their kinsmen kept on attacking and striking terror among them.

And that pissed Sasuke off pretty bad. Oh, how he wished to simply erase those people from the surface of the earth, until everyone would get it once and for all, that they should cooperate and not consider themselves something they were not –the superior race.

But he couldn't because inflicting panic and dread into his own race, just to force them into cooperation, was pointless, stupid and unprofessional.

For it to ever work, _compromises_ and love were needed. The bonds had to be sincere and come from the heart, and not from fear. Nothing good would come from hate: no friendship, no peace and ultimately, no love.

"Damn that rogue snake monster... I will shove my fangs down his throat and rip off his head as soon as I get my hands on him."

It was hard to hear Naruto sound so menacing, practically spatting that name from his lips, bitterness and acrimony visibly present while reminiscing about their main source of trouble, Sasuke and Shikamaru silently decided, but they agreed with his approach, for they were just as annoyed and fed up with cleaning the mess he left behind.

"It is not just Orochimaru. There are many new emerging pledges, who embrace my father's doctrines with a little bit too much pathos and seed fear among the humans. The streets... are not safe anymore and there are not enough Hunters."

While thinking about all the ruckus they were creating, Sasuke was silently worrying about Sakura as well. She could have easily been in that woman`s predicament and he might not have been fast enough to save her; that figment alone twisted his handsome face into a deep frown.

It was pure luck that they decided to check on that place first and Naruto has sensed the fragrance of fear and blood coming from there so they could be in time to save someone, otherwise that woman would have been another victim on the TV screens by then next day and add another mystery case on the Police`s report.

"Well, this is why we're here, right?" Naruto grinned at his two friends, proudly tapping his broad chest with his thumb, resembling Rock Lee.

Shikamaru responded with a side smirk of his own, while their Uchiha companion remained serious, hard and composed.

"We are not _God_ , thus there are things that slip past our vigilance. We cannot be omnipotent. Meanwhile," Gleaming silvery-obsidian almond irises flickered towards the woman who has been starting at him wide-eyed and he quietly and elegantly elevated his hand to brush a chocolate lock out of her cold face, as the surprised woman missed a breath.

The contact with his gentleness warm and compassionate touch has successfully made her stop tremble in fear completely into Shikamaru`s loose embrace, looking at him totally enthralled and hypnotized by the incredibly elegance and beauty of that raven haired man.

She wasn't being impolite and lustful, only surprised and confused about her own orbs about what she has just seen.

"People die. And this makes adrenaline rush through my veins." By that, Sasuke meant that he lusted for blood, but not the one that Sakura was offering for nourishment, no, he itched to make filthy blood spring from those creatures` chests and skulls as he would get the world rid of.

 _Especially Orochimaru._

"What do you want to do?" Shikamaru inquired as Sasuke dropped his hand from the young woman`s hair, side stepping and ambling past their shoulders, sliding his hands into his pockets, instructing his genius comrade on a velvet casual voice.

"Escort the lady home and give her two replenishing blood pill to make up for what she lost, and then reunite with us here."

"What about us?" Naruto upshot his blonde eyebrows up, crossing his hands behind his nape, strolling to his ebony haired friend.

He couldn't have bothered to come there –and risk to be lectured by his mother for staying up so late- just to deal with such weaklings, clearly asking for more… _action._

Sasuke resisted the need to hiss at him to stop being so juvenile and punch him in the jaw, but refrained from any unnecessarily excessive behavior, so he merely notified him about his plans for the night.

"We get inside and reconvene with Neji and Kiba. More than sixty percent of the latest attacks happened here.

There are also illegal occurrences that have been reported to me by Kakashi and I want to personally investigate them." The huge grin blooming on Naruto`s full lips had his raven haired friend roll his eyes, unceremoniously but he couldn't help it anymore.

Serious business happened in the ' _Sound'_ club –Orochimaru`s nest of crawling dirty Snakes- and it was the kind of place where the Hunters weren't venturing too far because powerful Vampires –both pure bloods and half-breeds- were allured by it, since it was one of the few places where they could have orgies, carnages and unlimited supply of drugs, prostitutes and blood.

So Sasuke naturally understood Naruto`s frenzy and motivation, but seriously, he should grow up from his annoying manner of revealing his inner –idiotic and hyperactive- itches and display more self-control and stoicism. He was doing it to annoy the heck out of him, Sasuke was aware.

The blond was in for a good beating later on, that was already decided into the raven haired Uchiha Vampire`s dangerous dark mind.

"Roger, Boss!" Naruto placed a hand on his temple mimicking a common ceremoniously military salute as Sasuke narrowed his eyes in his direction. Did he look like in the mood to play games and take on mockeries?

 _Why was that dobe so damn hyperactive and happy anyways?_

It only meant that they –miraculously-managed to avoid being decapitated by Hyuga Hiashi for having their sweet little secret concursion, otherwise he would be wailing like a willow by then.

"Come on. We are wasting precious time."

As his olive shrewd orbs followed the impressive sleek silhouettes of his two friends casually passing the security guards and step inside the aforementioned club –thanks God Sasuke has shown clemency on him and didn't make the lazy brilliant Nara go inside as well- he tucked on the woman`s in his arms shoulders, leading her towards the more illuminated part of the street. "Shall we go, Miss? What is your address?"

.

.

.

* * *

Grazing bodies were sowed all around the leather sofas, as the dim light and the glowing maddening effect of the colorful lasers concealed their bold gropes and lascivious touches into the darkness.

A deafening Gothic and Pagan song vibrated through the stereos, attuning with the wanton overflow of expensive pungent cocktails and strong alcohol, sizzling down the throats of the intoxicating never sleeping partying bodies.

The thick carnal air was hot, reeking of perspiration splashing from the hungrily bodies that were grinding together on the dance floor, licentious colors of pitch black and crimson red molded over the almost naked bodies of the females, doing nothing to conceal modesty that wasn't meant to be treasured.

Hungry males were trying to get as close as possible to them, all wearing luxurious suits over their intoxicated bodes, while their hands were daring, groping certain parts of anatomy, growling like rapacious beasts, as the sexual tension became suffocating.

And of course, the unambiguous honey miasma of dripping blood and fresh flesh immixed into the orgy of the stuffed place and the thick veil of smoke fog, oozing from the burning Cuban and slim cigars and weed, all courtesy of the concupiscent pigs populating every corner available, as they were sucked by lecherous harlots in leather and fishnets, without a shame, or making out, suckling, biting and scraping flesh.

Sasuke felt beyond abhorred and scandalized, fighting against the need to swirl on his heel and get out of the Devil`s realm, but he was there with business so she tried his best to focus straight ahead and ignore every other… distraction, with talent.

Naruto was right on his heel, mumbling curses under his breath expressing his dismay and having a hand plastered over his mouth and nose, his stomach reeling with disgust. He really felt the need to vomit.

They knew exactly where the _'upper males'_ were nesting, so they just needed slip past the ecstatic excited bodies and make their way to the more exclusive parts of the club, but what were the chances to sneak unnoticed by hoards of Vampires with amazingly sharp senses and keen eye, looking exactly for someone burning hot and desirable, with someone like Sasuke Uchiha beside?

Exactly, _none._

Said onyx eyed Uchiha Prince groaned low on his chest and gritted his teeth as he felt a pair of soft lips latch to his neck, coming from his side and a slim arm curled around his flexed bicep, successfully making him halt and jerk, trying to get out of whoever dared to approach him so boldly.

"Hey there, handsome. You wouldn't happen to have been looking for me, would you?" He fought the urge to cringe at the voice and the promiscuous sexual remark breathing against his ear.

Onyx orbs shot to his left side, colliding with a skimpy, bony and half naked young blonde prostitute.

He briefly narrowed his eyes when a silver laser burned his vision, merging with the thick smoke coming from the stage, observing that she was very young and most likely drugged.

"Let go." He tried his best to not snarl at her, since he clearly saw that she was a mortal and not a Vampire, and probably forced into prostitution, but his tone came as hard steel and commending.

Glazed high playful round orbs tried to fix his enthralling onyx ones, as she pressed further into the sexy Vampire, purring like a cat.

"How about a drink for starters? It might cool you off a bit, assuming that you are already very _hot_."

His face contorted into a menacing deep frown and he was one step ahead of gnarling at the woman, shaking her off his person, but he abruptly halted and bit back a nasty remark when his perceptive obsidian orbs saw the real look in her widened eyes, exhausted, terrorized and silently imploring. "I would advise you to sto-"

He quickly shifted his stare to a faraway corner when the woman bit her quivering rouged lower lip and cocked her head to gesticulated and point to the object of her dread.

A huge bulky bald brute, with a deep menacing scar scattered over his left cheek and going to his temple, was looking straight into their direction, as the Uchiha held his gaze for two seconds, understanding her desperate attempt to swallow her fear and approach him.

A pimp and he seemed to be in charge with his 'girls' from the first floor of the burning glossy club, paying attention to each whore so that they won't try to run away or escape with his money.

It took every cell of the iron self-restraint he had for the Uchiha heir to not flicker to that man and pulverize him.

He had to hand it to the dobe that time, for Naruto has been right about a net of prostitution being lead from that place and conjuring the bosses.

"Please... just let me keep you company for a while." His viciously dangerous onyx hues returned back to the woman, who looked like she has seen the Devil himself and she half moaned and half begged, knowing that he wasn't interested in whatever she had to offer, but if she failed, a much worse predicament waited for her. "I promise I will make it _worth_ it."

The object of his rage wasn't the absolutely pitiful and miserable skinny woman before him, but his own Vampire reign.

Sasuke felt deeply insulted to even be of the same species with such creatures. Was that the very essence of a Vampire? The girl looked abused and anorexic and drugged and they were probably beating her if she failed to pleasure her client, which was _revolting._

Someone like her should be in school, go shopping, hang out with her friends, have a lover and enjoy life, and not have puffy eyes from crying, concealed by heavy disgusting makeup that didn't suit her and have her body abused in various ways that were making Sasuke's mind burn in revolt.

There were visible fangs marks all over her body, some new and some scarred and old, from all her clients.

Naruto, who has seen that Sasuke has stopped without a warning, was quick on his side, hollering so that his interlocutor would hear him, with the blasting sinister music piercing through their eardrums.

"Teme, what the fuck man? C'mon, stop fooling around. Mom is going to ground me again and threat me to enroll me into the Navy if I am not home until 3 a. m!"

No matter if she was a noble pure-blood Vampire, Kushina had her solid principles and habits and demanded his son to lead a normal life, and part of her odd behavior were due to respect to her deceased husband, Minato, who was a mortal like his son.

At first, the cerulean eyed Uzumaki was heavily confused when he saw the Uchiha before him embracing a woman, being more than ready to leash forward and punch him into the next century, but then he quickly saw the stiffness of his broad shoulders as he was basically forcing himself to not explode and the woman`s tensed attitude.

Sasuke abruptly spun the girl around so as to bring her flush into his chest, attaching his lips to her ear and whispering.

"You should value yourself more." Inconspicuously, so as no one would see what he was doing, the ebony haired Uchiha slide a pile of money on her stunned small hand, which were more than enough for her to escape there and live for some months until she found a decent job.

For any other eye of any witness, he looked like he was kissing her and playing with her hair, doing what she was supposed to do, namely lure him and charm him.

Puppy orbs turned wide as plates when the girl understood his generous gesture and almost flinched when a hand went to tuck a strand of hair around her ear, searching for the eyes of the gorgeous stranger, observing him with gratitude in her eyes.

She could smell his delicious scent and felt the warmth and strength of his touch. "Go. _He_ will _no_ t follow you. I give you _my_ word."

Her orbs flew wide in shock, as she remained petrified into his arms, loss of what should she do or if she should trust him –she knew she would be dead if he was tricking her- but something about the way he crept a small side smirk to her assured her that whoever that man was, he wasn't a liar. She felt bad for not having a way to repay him. "B-But, Mr... I should-"

"Do not make me repeat myself, because it is so annoying." Sasuke exhaled heavily, letting go of her waist and racking a hand through his disheveled soft hair, spinning around swiftly and going after Naruto, who stopped few steps far from them, so as to not raise suspicion, but enough to have his friend on his field of view. From the corner of his sizzling onyx orbs, Sasuke could clearly see that the brute was looking after the runaway girl who was slipping past the grinding bodies, trying to scurry outside.

"Bastard, what were you-" Seeing that Sasuke was steadily heading into the direction of a male the size of mountain, who seemed to guard a door concealed by a black velvet curtain, looking smugly around, he dashed after his friend, blabbering.

"Shut up and follow." Sasuke growled at Naruto, as he picked up his sleek pace, nearly flying over the polished floor, seeing as that disgusting Vampire or half-breed –damn Orochimaru for making them so reminiscent to the traditional Immortals- has conjured another bulky male, whispering as the other one nodded to him, pointing in the direction of the running woman, swirling a large knife on his right hand, grinning mischievously.

The midnight haired Uchiha could easily depict the arousal of his lust for blood rushing down his system, imagining him ripping off their throats.

"Those two clowns…" Sky azurite orbs set on the things that Sasuke has pointed at, understanding why was his friend so adamant in heading towards that place. "...are part of Orochimaru's circus."

It was everything that Naruto needed to hear, already grinning and having a hand upon his leather belt, that cupped his equally black luscious skinny pants to his slim hips as they were approaching the aforementioned guards. "Can I at least shoot one of them?"

"No."

"Aw man, seriously? Where is the fun in not putting a bullet or two down their skulls? You know they deserve it, _dattebayou_!"

Sasuke didn't even flickered his onyx eyes on Naruto`s complaining whiskered figure to shot him a smartass retort for using such unmannered and colloquial foul language, because the two disgusting men were already on his view, as his swift menacing steps were getting him nearer to whatever secret door they were guarding.

The moment they took a glimpse of a pitch ebony haired man and his blonde counterpart, the two of them scowled and straightened their spines, speaking loud and firm. "This is an exclusive area. No _commoners_ allowed."

To emphasize their objective, they pushed their broad chest like two smug chauvinistic cocks, crossing their arms to give them a more menacing aura, and glared at the ebony haired Uchiha hard and vicious.

Naruto, who briskly joined his raven haired Uchiha`s side, discourteously rolled his aquamarine azurite eyes at their lame attempt to be intimidating and flickered a quick rear glance at his best friend, resisting the urge to erupt in an abrupt fit of laughter.

The Uchiha didn't have any sort of reaction written over his handsome face, looking as autistic as ever, but Naruto knew it all too well that it was just a mask for the rage he probably felt at the moment, although it was absolutely illegible from his steel attitude.

It still fascinated Naruto how in the world Sasuke could muster that phlegmatic indomitable stoic appearance, being so nonchalant when doing it.

"Step aside and let me pass." Oh, the way he basically spat those words out of his thin firm lips almost had Naruto take a step back, sounding darker than the Ruler of twilight himself. " _Now_." They better move the fuck out of his way, or else… Naruto didn't want to think about what might happen to their bodies if they disobeyed.

He so _so_ hoped they would, because the cerulean eyed Uzumaki was bored out of his mind and Sasuke has always been so reticent and strict when killing traitorous Vampires and half-breeds, the party-popper.

Now expecting them to bend to his hard still cold and rude command, Sasuke trust a step forward, but the brute before him, who was lightly shorter than the Uchiha, but visibly bulkier and apparently physically stronger, placed a rough bold hand down his shoulder, brutally pushing him back, while Sasuke didn't budge.

An indecipherable eerie look travelled from the man`s stretched hand, resting on his shoulder, ruffling his clothes, to his face, resisting the need to smirk at his expression. He was visibly red from all the effort he had to put in that insignificant gesture. "I said, no visitor-"

"If you are smart, which I highly doubt it," Sasuke growled at him low and rich, like a beast, fisting his own hand into the black collar of his navy shirt, fiercely hauling him down to greet his venomous onyx orbs, hissing into his face like a Cobra.

"You would do as I instructed. I am granting you one last chance to step aside. Be smart and don't create unnecessarily havoc. There will be plenty of chances to do so after we are finished here."

"Hey, are you fucking deaf-"

A guttural exasperated sigh escaped past Sasuke`s lips, as he shut his eyes to calm himself down and not rip off his throat, his voice lackluster yet incredibly sharp. "I have forewarned you, but you foolishly chose to defy me."

In a nanosecond, both his hands curled around their bulky sweating throats, almost making the bones and jugulars crumble into his inhumane grip and threw them inside the door they were safeguarding, behind the velvet fluttering curtain, audaciously stepping nonchalantly inside. "Wrong decision." Naruto was right on his tail.

* * *

Both the rebel Vampires allowed themselves to step into a darkened room, reeking with an unpleasant heavy scent of blood, sex and weed piercing their nostrils. A deafening sultry gothic melody was blasting through the stereos muffling the sounds of the orgy enfolding there, creating a vicious thick atmosphere of pure dementia.

Multiple leather and plush L shaped sofas with men sowed all over it, accompanied by skimpy clad promiscuous women, drinking, smoking, as throats were puncturing by short thick fangs, blood flowing past glistening with alcohol, were building up a grotesque partying and clubbing atmosphere.

Greedy lips were met in a disgusting bold and sexual carnal thirst, men were fingering them under the mini skirts and dresses that were barely concealing their porcelain skin feverously and moans erupted from their purple and crimson rouged lips, juices flowing down their thighs as blood surged from their necks.

Sasuke felt a churn inside his stomach, crunching nose to prevent himself from violently puking right there and then.

That was ten times _worse_ than what he witnessed on the previous main room of the club.

The stench there was absolutely insupportable for someone with his senses and Sasuke quickly covered his nose with his palm. He absolutely abhorred that type of entertainment and not to mention that place.

"Aw man, look at all this mess here! What the heck?!" Said Uzumaki blonde had a sensitive nose and had a hand cover his mouth carefully strolling beside Sasuke almost tripping on a rolling empty bottle, formulating a rude curse of choice as he followed Sasuke deeper in the room.

Roars of laughter roared all over the place, immixing with the sickening euphoric music as everyone was too high or stoned to take notice of their presence, save for a few attentive women.

In the middle of the farthest sofa, a familiar character was too engulfed into his own pleasure to observe Sasuke and Naruto steadily approaching him.

He was fervently sucking the blood of a blonde woman who was leaning with his head prompted on his shoulder, from behind the sofa, looking half death and half lost in bliss -probably drugged since half breeds couldn't offer satisfaction and their fangs are not fine but sharper and painful- a hand gripping a fist of her hair while another skimpy woman was sprawled on her knees, nesting in between his spread wide legs, sucking him eagerly, as his left hand was harshly tugging on her high ponytail, thrusting viciously inside her mouth.

Naruto already had a hand slipped into his jacket, where a silver gun was eagerly waiting to be used, when another woman coming of nowhere, swayed to his raven haired friend, hips undulating sensually like a snake`s, but unlike the innocent helpless girl before her, that one was on another level of sultriness.

She boldly came in front of Sasuke successfully stopping himself from advancing towards his number one target for the night, and pushed herself into his hard steel body, running a palm over the slim fitting dark blouse that rippled over his pectorals, purring like an Egyptian cat. "Young Master, Sasuke- _sama_ …"

Her half split pierced long tongue rolled his name in a banshee like spell bounding low way, tracing it over her sharp long lustrous fangs, as a dainty trace of blood decorated the sharp tip, being sensuous, dark and seductive.

"What a _pleasure_ indeed. How may I be of any of your help?" She skimmed her hand down his chiseled abdomen, attempting to decrease deeper to his navel and the front of his pants when he stopped her halfway, with a steel unbeatable grasp on her wrist until the fine bones almost cracked. She let out a loud robotic screech that made Sasuke`s eardrums vibrate painfully.

 _For the love of-_

She has just dropped out his _name_. Sasuke gave her a smug superficial once over confirming his suspicion.

Black leather G-string, high lacquer boots, a loose net tank top squashing her visible big round breasts and she wore no bra underneath, nipples erect and pressed on his chest. She said his name and the suffix that signalizing his social status, meaning that she was a full-fledged Vampire, and not a half-breed or a turned Vampire.

His mercy dissipated in the span of a nanosecond being replaced by an immensurable disgust. He growled mincingly to her.

"Touch me once again and you will lose it." Not giving the woman a chance to swoon and drool further at his hot attitude and looks, Sasuke forcefully twisted her wrist and threw the vampire prostitute on one of the random round glass tables, where a group of men in dark expensive suits were focusing on their game of cards.

"Filthy harlots…" Now he had to burn his clothes because Hell might only knew where those hands of hers have been wandering before touching –tainting- him, Sasuke viciously let out a course of disarray curses, urging a snickering Naruto to follow him. _Why the heck was that dobe laughing at?_

Next thing he knew, he was right in front of an euphoric looking drunk Yakushi _Kabuto_ , who hasn't even sensed Sasuke and Naruto approach him and nor did his guards, who were all busy with their respective sluts.

Sasuke leaned forward and forcefully gripped his slim throat cutting down his air supply, gaining the aforementioned character`s undivided attention. He stopped thrusting into his whore`s mouth and drink from the innocent neck of the other –she was human, oh Havens.

Sasuke saw bloody crimson red before his eyes, and it wasn't caused by the Sharingan.

As soon as his dirty sharp razor fangs detached from her bruised neck, Naruto caught her into his arms and checked on her vital signs, while the one who was orally pleasuring let out a cry and scurried the hell out of there sensing danger.

That was clearly another disgusting Vampire woman in search for animalistic dirty sexual pleasure, and not money. Vampires had plenty of money, and that was never their number one priority. But carnal pleasures were other story.

"H-Heyyy… w-what the..." Kabuto slurred at the pair of blazing obsidian orbs pinning him with the most evil stare he has ever seen, clearly drunk as hell and not recognizing Sasuke from the first time.

Then when he realized that he was being prevented from breathing –half-breeds needed oxygen to live, unlike Vampires who didn't need to breathe so frequently- Kabuto started to trash, squirm and slap Sasuke`s hand away, but the ebony haired Uchiha Prince tucked him towards his left fist, as it connected to his jaw, punching him hard once.

Dark repulsive blood sprayed out of his mouth as his fangs pressed on his lower lip, splitting it in two fine blood lines.

"You have always made me repulsed, Kabuto." Said man coughed twice, blinking rapidly and trying to come into his senses as he had much alcohol running into his body. When realization stroke him like a high fever, his dark round eyes flew wide and almost budging out of their sockets.

 _Uchiha…_ Sasuke!

His demented lips broke in half as he threw his head backwards and let out a manic sinister laughter. "Hahaha, the great rebel Prince Sasuke _-kun_ , decided to get his pretty hands dirty and come to the snake's den himself!"

There was much derision and insult into those words that he had the audacity to spat into Sasuke`s face.

The perturbing metal music suddenly stopped as his pig half human half vampires laughed and roared along, all hearing what their 'Boss' has just said.

But everyone seemed to blatantly ignore one single detail: Sasuke was still the one who had a hand fisted into the collar of his luscious purple shirt and the imprint of his knuckles was tattooed on his bruised jaw.

The Uchiha was holding his stance eminent and illustrious, not even curbing his shoulders to dip forward, only his onyx orbs were cast down on Kabuto, repulse and disgust clearly written all over, while his regal chin was still royally held up.

"You test my patience Yakushi Kabuto. And mind telling you, I have never been a lenient man." As if to highlight the swell of his menacing threat, Sasuke tightened his grip around Kabuto`s neck when he suddenly tried to jerk out of his grip and get free.

"I have granted you an ultimatum last time we have met, but like always, you lowlife underlings pathetic excuses of half immortals chose to disobey me and thus forced me to personally descend into your world of filth and garbage."

Last time they scouted the places where Vampires and half-breeds fancied to meet and agree on coming together into doing illegal stuff, Sasuke and his gang has cornered them too and warned Kabuto –and indirectly, Orochimaru who was the master puppeteer- about prostitutes drugs illegal bets and warned them to stop hurting civilains. "And you know that I would rather not get involved."

"Fuck you, Uchiha!" Kabuto gnarled viciously and spat Sasuke in the face, as the undeniable stench of his saliva and blood and reeked of sewer and that made Sasuke even more disgusted.

His onyx orbs shut down briefly and a deep scowl bedecked his handsome face. Naruto took a wise large step back, using the back of his right hand to heal the blonde`s wounds forcing a replenishing blood pill down her mouth, since she was severely injured, thinking for himself.

' _Uh-oh'_ , that was clearly _not_ a wise defying move coming from someone like Kabuto. If there was something that clearly enraged Sasuke and made his tranquil demeanor and self-control crumble like bricks under a thunder bolt, was being affronted in such a low inelegant way.

The honey haired Uzumaki could clearly feel pure rage soar to his friend`s body, as his entire musculature tensed, his jaw clenched until his teeth were grazing and his nostrils were puffing like Chinese dragons, spitting flames from their mouths.

That was never a good sign. Sasuke was the type of man to rarely lose his temper, but when he did… "You lowlifes motherfuckers are not Gods and definitely not _our_ Gods or Kings or whatever the fuck you think you are! We don't take orders from scums like you, Uchiha! Here, no one recognize your word! The word of a pussy Prince, unworthy of his family name and inheritance!"

He spat the reality of the underground straight into Sasuke`s and the fact that he didn't accept his father's commend and recognized him as their Leader.

Sasuke was well aware of the fact that Uchiha was losing authority among the half-breeds and more and more Vampires turned their backs on him and joined the 'other side', teaming up with Orochimaru.

The games and battles for power were far from over; they were as ancient as history and would last as long as Vampires would populate the world.

It was a never-ending curse and war.

"If your convictions are such…" Sasuke started lowly like his voice wasn't belonging to such a graceful looking gorgeous man, but to a robot, he easily lifted Kabuto up in the air like he weighed nothing, until his pointed lacquer black shoes unglued from the floor by his fine grey Armani shirt stained from all the blood leaking from his face and squeezed his onyx orbs shut, his forehead crippling from the frown he had plastered over his visage.

And when he let them shine for the world again, Kabuto`s body benumbed into his grip and his limbs fell limp on his side, freezing under his magnetizing implacable force.

Sasuke simply threw him back on the sofa, both falling backwards from the impact and the power that Sasuke has applied, all the while the lethal Uchiha didn't flickered an inch from where he stood, proud, menacing and arrogant ,like he was the owner of the place and no one dared to interfere.

"Then I find myself obliged to refresh your memory and remind of _who_ exactly _I_ am."

And by that, Sasuke didn't mean to flash those people his title as a Ruler –an appellation that he wasn't content with- because he knew that his father was overlooking them, hence the fact that they were still gathering and plotting, otherwise, the Uchihas would have long dealt with them and erased them from history.

Fugaku`s youngest son meant that he was a certified rebel who showed no mercy to his enemies.

The boisterous bang of Kabuto being tossed down like a dirty bag rung across the room, and havoc erupted.

Suddenly, there were shrieking harlots scattered all over trying to make a run for it, screaming horrified men attempting to get their asses out of the place, sensing the danger knocking on their doors, jaws dropped in shock when the name Uchiha Sasuke has been dropped for the first time, but Naruto was firmly planted in front of the only exit arms crossed upon his protruding wide pectorals, barking.

"No one leaves this room! Everyone shut your mouths and stay put!"

Kabuto collected himself from the floor, whipping the blood off his face with the hem of his shirt and a gun in his right stretch hand, pointed right to at Sasuke who instantly pulled out his own one and shouted twice in Kabuto`s knees, without even blinking or giving the child carbon copy of his serpent Boss a change to flirt with the idea of threatening him or even shoot.

Just as smooth and precise, Sasuke shot a third bullet into his shoulder and forced Kabuto to drop his gun and everything happened in the span of a second.

The man before the ebony haired Uchiha dropped on his knees like he was sending prayers to Heaven and winced in sheer agony, yelling at the top of his lungs. "You motherfuking cocksucker asswipe-"

The Uchiha cut the words out of his mouth, before he had the chance to complete his vicious curse, being more deadly than the gun he was holding in his left hand.

"The only reason why I don't decapitate you right on the spot until you bleed and end up your worthless meaningless existence Kabuto, is because I want you to convey this message to your filthy serpent _Boss_." He started dangerously pure venom dripping from his mouth.

Then Sasuke spun around and into seconds flat the Uchiha did something very atypical to him, namely shoot every single man in the room in the forehead killing them all.

Kabuto recognized the innovative concept of the bullets that Sasuke used: silver bullets with platinum and gold alloy coating -lethal for half Vampires because it stopped the regenerative process of their cells.

To put it simply, it was a very effective way of easily killing them. Almost inoffensive to full pure blood Vampires, save for few injuries which would heal –since Immortals were required to bleed until their bodies would remain dry of the blood that nourished their already dead bodies- but fatal to half-breeds.

Before Kabuto had the chance to open up his mouth and sneer at him, Sasuke whipped his head to him as his charcoal hued longer bangs scattered all over his temples and eyes bleed in the color of rubies, being colder than the veils of ice and darkness.

"Either he returns to the pits of the earth where he belongs to and take all of his puppets with him, or you will all share his fate." meaning that Sasuke would personally kill Orochimaru if he needed to.

"Y-You can't do this! You cannot just come here and mess with our business like that!"

"I assume you wouldn't mind another demonstration of all the things I _can_ do, am I right in my assumption? Careful Kabuto," A satanic smirk framed Sasuke`s thin lips, as he slowly allowed the maroon hue of his Sharingan saturate with the violet distinctive shade of _Rinnegan,_ arrogantly flashing in the sinister pattern and Kabuto`s face drained of color and his orbs froze in unadulterated shock, horror written all over his face.

Not many knew of the existence of the Rinnegan and the ones that did have acknowledge over the eyes of the founder of Vampires himself branded it as a legend, but Sasuke decided that it was time to make it reputed and let them know that the inheritance of _Rikudo Sannin_ was real and alive, flaring into Fugaku`s youngest child`s left eye.

"Dobe…"

"Osu!" The blonde hollered from the other side of the room, cheering behind him.

"How many of the drugs cartels and prostitution markets do they monopolize both in Konoha and Suna?"

If Kabuto`s orbs were horrified by the pattern of the pinning Rinnegan which kept him trapped on place with that pulverizing stare alone, then the prospect of losing his business and an important source of their illegal money made his eyeballs roll on the floor.

No one knew about that, except for Orochimaru and some trustful subordinates and they gained an important amount of money from that business.

"About sixty percent if Neji is correct." The blonde smoothly replied and Sasuke smirked at the scared look on Kabuto's face, enjoying the scent of dread that oozed from every of his pore. He should be afraid, giving the fact that Sasuke had the power to crush him by merely lift a finger or blink once and that absoluteness was slowly sinking down into Kabuto`s skull.

 _Uchiha Sasuke_ was… on a league of his own. He alone had the unsullied invulnerable power to crush them ALL if his desires were such, Orochimaru included and that fact was enough to bring fear into someone as strong and famous as Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru`s right hand man.

Not to mention that Uzumaki Naruto was there with him, being his sworn brother and having his skills probably on par with the Uchiha`s. The rebels… became too dangerous. To everyone, even Fugaku.

"Which means that if we dispose of their Heads now," Sasuke started, his scrutinizing deadly orbs never leaving Kabuto`s horrified visage. "The criminality rate with lower with at least fifty percent. You are behind the last two attacks, Kabuto, but this time around, you succeeded into making into the headlines. It never came to me that you were hungry for attention."

What Sasuke was strongly emphasizing, was the fact that Orochimaru was standing out too much and that contradicted the pact they had with the government: Vampires must stay away from people and not to merge into their lives, as much as they could.

Of course, it didn't apply to business, since Vampire`s corporations were on the top of the stocks markets and supported the national economies.

And the half-breeds` recent attacks, were besmirching the reputation of the Pure Bloods as well, which was highly inconvenient.

"If you want to start a war, you are all alone in this!" Kabuto barked a reprehensible ironic laughter spitting the words into the Uchiha`s sinister twisted face.

"No one supports you in your insurrection! Not even your own _family_! The great Uchiha should stop playing the damn saints because they also kill and drink blood just like us! What makes you better than us, huh?! Your names alone?! Reputation?! Power?! The fact that you are ruthless and unforgiving?!"

Kabuto was steadily losing his temper, his cheeks turned the color of crimson red, alcohol was painting his figure and clouded his mind and words, while Sasuke pinned him down with a stare so intense, that the blazing Hell was a small child compared to it, letting him go on with his tirade.

Inwardly, he was envisioning himself brutally murdering the man in front of him, being so sick of playing the same game of mouse and cat with Orochimaru and his bastards, but he couldn't kill the Higher-ups of the half-breeds.

Those half human and half Vampires were part of their _community,_ they were a large number of a new cross species and ultimately, someone that couldn't be ignored and murdering them all and leave a massacred behind to haunt the minds of their successors for decades was not an option and not a bridge to **peace.**

Words were more prolific on a long run than any other destructive weapons, as fine politics and eloquent smart compromises were the keys to universal peace and Sasuke was conscious about that fact. It still irked him, though… maybe he should let Naruto throw some punches to decorate his smug face.

Kabuto and his half-breed peers knew it all too well that the Prince wasn't content with the current dogmas.

Sasuke said nothing but let it vent out until he calmed down completely. If anything, the Uchiha heir simply couldn't stand talking to anyone who lost control over their emotions and let reason be clouded and impaled by rage and hate. He found it extremely unprofessional, impolite and unsophisticated.

"You took us by surprise but you won`t take us down! Orochimaru-sama is stronger than you, did you hear me Uchiha?! So you and your fucked up pathetic weak friends can go and very much fuck yourselves `cos you won't take us down anytime soon! You are all tough talk but you can't kill me! You can't cos you know that you will anger him!"

Upon depicting the word of 'fear' into Kabuto`s risqué language, Sasuke surprised his audience by allowing a smirk to form at the corner of his mouth, catching Kabuto out of guard.

"You are a fool if you think that you mean anything more to him than an obedient lap _dog._ It is obsequiousness the thing that keeps you alive, Kabuto. So quit the bravado and shut your vulgar mouth…"

A suddenly trembling Kabuto gaped in horror as he was impaled by the brilliant flouting color of violet blazing into Sasuke`s left eye, following the revolution of the pitch dark comas embellishing the lilac spheres of the familiar Rinnegan pattern, as a technique that he hasn't seen before had him charged by an invisible force that kept him frozen on place and uplifted him from the ground, levitating above the fallen couch. "Or I will gladly do it for you, if you don't obey."

Just as Naruto was cracking his skull at what weird technique was his friend using to imitate telekinesis, Kiba and Neji step inside the room, immediately crunching their noses in utter repulsiveness, gasping at the unexpected mess around them.

Kiba instantly got a knock on the pits of his stomach, immediately being invaded by the abhorrent reek of dark blood surging from the impaled bodies around him, fighting against the urge to vomit, stepping carefully on the rolling bottles and squeezing his orbs to make out the outlines of the standing occupants of the room, scurrying to Naruto, swearing viciously. "Whoa! What the heck dudes? What is with this mess?"

"I thought we follow your instructs to be as discrete as possible, Sasuke." Neji stated empathically as the bleeding milky protruding fine veins creased at the corners of his orbs to take in the dead people and half-breeds scattered over the floor and he almost gasped when he realized that there were Pure Blood Vampires among the impaled ones, thought those weren't dead… yet, but still bleeding heavily and weakened.

 _What the hell was going on there? Has Sasuke lost his mind?_

"And I thought that they have already learned their lesson, but I found out that they were very adamant in proving me wrong."

The Uchiha responded carelessly as if nothing happened, whirling on his heel to face his comrades, breaking the Jutsu he cast –and successfully tried- upon a falling Kabuto, who was still shaking and puzzled by the extreme behavior of the Uchiha Prince, letting his orbs return to the usual onyx color, not wanting to give them anything more to nag him with, as disclosing his new techniques to them.

But he still gnarled through his teeth at Kabuto knowing that the man was having his eyes all on him. "Consider this as your _last_ warning. And one more thing: The reason why you are still alive is because it is actually _not_ in _my_ job to play the hero, but the Vampires Hunters'. Kakashi will deal with the rest."

Sasuke grounded smoothly but lethal and venomous, while he fought against the need to let his onyx orbs spin until they hit the back of his head at the deadpanning expressions dancing on his friends` figures.

 _What the heck was their problem?_ "Clean this mess before you go. Make sure you free all the human girls. See if any of them need medical attention, and escort the critical ones to the hospital. Contact Tsunade Senju if necessary." He briefly instructed.

"No way man, she will bitch us around!" Kiba was the first to protest as if Sasuke has suggested the most outrageous ting and giving her volcanic temper and the way she snapped at everything that wronged her, it was not such a beaming prospect, but a rough elbow looking for his ribs and coming from Neji stopped him from turning into a whining woman. "Hey, what's the big deal, man?"

"Still better than have him preach us further, you idiot." The margarite eyed Hyuga heir whispered back to the boisterous Kiba, annoyed by his lack of tact.

Clearly something must have pissed the Uchiha pretty bad if he went farther than normally to intimidate those snakes.

And when those rarely moments when Sasuke was angry enfolded before their eyes, he was putting much characteristic passion into it.

They would better not get him angry..."Stop acting like a spoiled brat and give me a hand. I have three courses tomorrow morning."

"Psh, who cares about that shit? You already studied in advance, didn't you? Geek..."

"How did you call me?"

Azurite narrowed orbs were following the coward silhouette of Kabuto hiding into the shadows and making a run for it using a secluded back door, as soon as Sasuke drifted his indomitable attention to something else.

"Do we let him go away like that?" He arched an eyebrow up at Neji, who also observed that Orochimaru`s right hand man has been permitted to vanish from their field of view.

"Can't help it since our hands are tied. Sasuke is right, this is not our job."

"I wished we could slit his throat and get it over with once and for all. This is getting just like Shikamaru says... troublesome."

Naruto would have absolutely no problem in dealing with Orochimaru and Kabuto since that was something that he couldn't agree with Sasuke The Uchiha was being too lenient and permissive in his approach and that was only causing them more trouble.

Yes, he knew exactly about his aversion and repulsiveness over his father`s ways of ruling, as well as the dogmas of their Vampire peers and the sadistic pleasure for blood and revenge, but seriously, he couldn't possibly be so naïve into thinking that he would gain more authority and notoriety by always overlooking such behavior.

That was the reason why the whispers thrown among the population of the underground world travelled as a piece of gossip stating that the Uchiha heir has lost his touch and even powers, which was utterly ridiculous.

What the heck was going on in that intricate mind of his raven haired friend? Sasuke clearly not stopped believing into his convictions, he loathed Vampires more than ever and he was stronger than ever and he was clearly not intending to stop there.

Those were the things that bothered Naruto`s mind for as long as he followed his small group outside the room that was reeking for heavy smoke and lingering stench of dead, outside into the main club.

Music wasn't blasting like when they first entered the place. The once vivid atmosphere crushed the moment their guns went off, leaving the place eerily empty, save for the personnel and the bodyguards, but no security dared to approach them.

There were still some occupants spread over the sofas, consisting in confused men and scared trembling harlots decorating their laps, eying them suspiciously through their stoned glossy orbs, but Sasuke kept on focusing straight ahead, not acknowledging anyone. "It is unusual for you to be so... offensive Teme."

Naruto came beside him, silently questioning his friend`s unusual behavior. Sasuke was, by no means, violent. Yes, he was a Pure Blood Uchiha Vampire and definitely had _was_ a darker bloodthirsty homicidal inner side, but he was keeping it in full control. "What went to you today to kill so many of them?"

Sasuke knew exactly what puzzled his friends, but he desisted from giving him the answer he was suspecting: Sakura.

Somehow… looking into the eyes of the young woman attacked in the back of that building and the pathetic pitiful whore who clung to him like he was a lifesaver, the obsidian eyed Uchiha simply couldn't control himself when his eyes landed on the cause of the problem –Kabuto, Orochimaru`s messenger.

A terrifying thought has grown roots inside his mind, one that he couldn't stop from blooming" one of the two young women could have been Sakura and that figment alone has been sufficient into fueling the tank of the thirst to kill some of them.

There was always a limit to everything, even ETERNITY. Some considered reincarnation to be the end of a paradisiac life. And so Sasuke`s patience was also confined and it just happened to run extremely low that night.

So he cryptically told to his cerulean eyed whiskered tanned friend, on a tone that left no room for further inquiry. "They went too far for my liking and they think we lack manpower and grow soft and lenient. I want them to know that such unacceptable le behavior will not be permitted as long as **we** are still standing here."

"Heh... you just like to play the bad guy cos you know ladies love it.", Content with the reasonable lucid answer of his onyx eyed conceited friend, Naruto decided to swap his approach to a more satirical one, snickering to him. "Especially one particular _pink_ haired beautiful dragonfly."

Sasuke simply frowned deeply at the indecent imply of his friend`s words, punching him briskly on his shoulder, but Naruto didn't even flinch, only cackling more like an evil angel in disguise.

"You are an _idiot_ like always, dobe." What Sasuke also didn't forget and Naruto`s words ringing down his eardrums only enhanced that horrifying experience, was that Sakura has also been terrified by that ferocious barbaric slip into his tranquil and composed usual demeanor and that didn't sit right with him. IF anything, Sasuke didn't aim for Sakura to be scared of him, never.

 _Not after he learned that he was his…_

Self-animadversion and disgust over his actions and the sway in his self-control got Sasuke extremely repulsed and the fear sizzling into those petrified emerald orbs had him It killed him.

Over the decades, the youngest rebel child of the Uchiha clan has been meticulously educating himself into not indulging into the monster that his family wanted him to be and took from his vile savage Vampire side only the good parts and its benefits such as the extraordinary powers and ability to mold chakra.

* * *

"You're such a pompous sick bastard." Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke`s visible internal struggle, finding it funny how his friend was so young yet had the mentality of a grandpa or his ancestor`s, throwing a peep at his wristwatch, cursing under his breath. "Is already 2 a. m? Damn it, mom is gonna kill me and cut down my allowance!"

"You are wasting it on Ramen anyways."

"Did you leave Sakura-chan home alone?"

"She is with Ino."

"Did you leave Sakura-chan home alone with Ino?" Naruto had a very precise purpose in his wicked conspiring and scheming mind from the moment he decided to call and send her to Sasuke`s home and that was good blackmail material on the raven haired Uchiha Vampire.

Ino had no pardon when it came to gossiping about others` private lives and what better way to get his friend cornered than let Sakura know about how much of a bastard he was than have Ino open up her mouth?

Of course, he didn't mean to make Sasuke look bad, only less… perfect. Because being splendid was scary. "Oho, I can bet she knows every embarrassing stuff about ya by now, bwhaha!"

"They went for a round of midnight shopping." Why the heck were they still talking about that and why was Naruto plotting behind his back, coaxing his friends into participating to that charade, was unknown to Sasuke. Maybe the blonde should get his beating earlier and deliver his sorry ass to Kushina covered in stitches.

But then that crazy woman would bitch at them to no end and kill them both.

"You left two ladies alone night shopping with all this attacks going on lately? We are vulnerable because we play Batman and Robin and Sakura-chan is a tempting mortal. Have you lost your goddamn mind, Teme?"

"Didn't you hear that Ino is keeping her company? You know what kind of woman she is." I o was a rather sensitive and delicate woman, but when it came to half-breeds and Vampires assaulting and abusing mortals, she had a flip of personality and grew ruthless and in for torture. What was even more frightening, was that she was highly skilled in that domain.

Once, their platinum blonde female member of the group, took down an entire gang off twenty half breed alone and didn't broke a single nail while she whipped the floor with them, for attacking a group of Elementary students who were visiting an arts museum.

"And you forget that they are evolving, got stronger, rose in number and hate us more than ever. Next time they will strike, it won't be that simple." Sasuke also knew that, he felt it on Kabuto`s demeanor that his turbulent rebellion was coming from confidence and his aplomb has been a result of Orochimaru`s successfully vile sickening experiments.

But there was also something else that Sasuke knew for a fact and it had him rest assured –for then- that they won't go as far as to attack Ino and Sakura.

"It is my head they demand, not yours." Sasuke knew that Uchihas had many sworn enemies and they wanted the heir's blood to be spilled. Itachi was keeping a low profile and didn't strike as much but Sasuke was opposing them publicly and Naruto knew that he meant he had two enemies: family and its adepts and half breeds which were the second most powerful after Uchihas.

But he had support of Hunters and families of his friends which were members of the Council. Unfortunately many prominent families were supporting Fugaku not wanting to give in the privilege of drinking blood.

Blood pills were insult and admit they had addiction weakness, like they were sick needing cure. Strong refused to bent to the weaker race.

It was complicated to give up lower ranked creatures. Power blinded and separated family friends and lovers just like fright shattered bonds and oaths, ultimately causing a segregation of hate within one family and their entourage.

The moment their small platoon stepped outside that damned club of demons, a cool night has met their racing hot blood, in a pleasant soothing way. There was a half crescent dazzling mysterious moon peeping from the plush velvet clouds, and a serene draft flurried his long ebony locks, framing his face.

Sasuke scowled deeply as he realized that he smelled heavily of cheap perfume, smoke and blood. He needed a goddamn shower and fast because that stench was insulting. His fingers were flying over his phone, sending a short message to Ino instructing her to take Sakura home as fast as possible, because they were ready and kind of… overdid it that night.

If anything ,Naruto was right and Sasuke didn't like to risk uselessly.

"Teme," Naruto started out of the blue, coming to stand beside his onyx eyed friend, tapping his left shoulder, giving it a little squeeze in reassurance. "I know it's a pain in the ass bit you're bot alone in this. We are all here to support you and soon enough, the others will hear our voice and join us. Shikamaru told me that there is a strong supporting movement led by the Akasuna brothers in Suna and they share our point of view and teamed up with the humans. They sought for a platoon of Hunters to scout in Suna's clubs and watch the streets.

They have a little over seventy followers and their popularity is growing." Akasuna were a noble family of Pure blood Vampire with an ancient tradition and a reputed history in the city of Sunagakure and hearing such great news made Sasuke feel grateful for that luck.

He said nothing in return as his face remained expressionless and reserved, but his eyes were deep and content as Naruto flawlessly read into those obsidian infinite pools.

He was also crushing Kabuto`s empty useless words, when he stated that Sasuke was alone in his rebellion; he was not. He had his friends to back him up whenever, Itachi included. And then came Sakura to crumble the boulder in his heart. He was anything but alone he was not.

He knew that Sasuke was solitary in fighting with both his family and enemies and constantly playing with fire but their convictions were getting to the others. They had the proof that they were perfectly capable to change something in the conservatory mentality of the Vampires. They were slowly getting to understand their ideology and fraternize with their purpose.

"This is indeed very good news."

"I hate to be the one to break the bad news to you." Shikamaru popped up in between the Uchiha and his solar counterpart, jumping from a building and landing gracefully and silently on the ground, being inconspicuous enough to scare the living daylights out of Naruto, who almost jumped in scare.

"Man I hate it when you do that!"

Ignoring the Uzumaki`s winnings of complain at the way Shikamaru seemed like deeply amused to always trick him, Sasuke injected flatly. "What is it?"

There was probably something serious going on since Shikamaru`s usually blasé lethargic tone turned serious and involved. "Pops has called me short after I escorted that chick to her home. It is such a drag, but it looks like your father has called for the Council to meet by tomorrow and it has something to do with the Vampire Hunters."

"Whoa- hold on a sec! Are you kidding us!" Naruto`s orbs widened in pure horror, whipping his head towards his motionless friend who was the personification of a statue. "Why would Times dad call up for the Council?!

And what does it have to do with Kakashi sensei and the Hunters?" Summoning the Council of Vampires was never a good sign; in fact, it only happened only a few times during the day when the successors of the first Rulers took over and met for the first time and it was always for grave problems. Last time the Council has met, was to discuss the problem of Orochimaru.

"I have no idea. My mom has found out that from Mikoto sama but she doesn't know much either. Guess we are going to find out soon."

Shikamaru`s gaze flickered to Sasuke`s impassive visage, not able to penetrate that indecipherable hard steel look. "Maybe the _heir_ has more information about that and he might want to share it the with the rest of us…"

They surprised eyes of Neji, Kiba, Shikamaru and Naruto were all set on Sasuke`s onyx ones, waiting for an answer of enlightenment. "Teme? Did your father called you about that?"

Sasuke would have laughed at that, but the issue was far too pressing and urgent to express amusement. Fugaku hardly called him and when he did, it was usually for a boring business related problem, but never personal.

Instead, the Uchiha Prince simply kept on being silent as a grave. Even a tombstone would have been more vocal than he was in that moment.

He definitely foreseen it that Fugaku would summon the Council as soon as _that_ particular information about Sakura would reach his ears, though he didn't quite expect his father to be so fast.

"Hn. He casually walked past Shikamaru, brushing his shoulder and turning his back on them, silently casting them aside of his personal affairs. Fugaku was… a nagging problem that he had to shoulder alone and not involve his friends.

"I will personally handle my father. I will see you tomorrow." and with that he flickered his body using that light speed technique and erased his presence from their vicinity. Naruto and his companions remained flabbergasted to stare at the empty spot where Uchiha`s cryptically presence has once been.

"What the fuck is this all about?" Kiba burst out in syphoning the Nara genius with questions as soon as he recovered from shock. Not a single member of the Inuzuka family has ever been summoned to a Council –since they weren't an old family with a long tradition- but he heard the stories.

Whatever it was, was definitely bad news.

"How should I know what is going on in that dysfunctional family?"

"Whatever this is about… I have the feeling that it might be related to Sakura-chan."

"Who?" Kiba shot his eyebrows up to his friend and Naruto almost slapped himself for the slip of tongue. Now he had to give a full explanation regarding the newest member of their group, while that was Sasuke`s job.

But he couldn't help himself. Sasuke was the next in line for the title of the King of Vampires and he found himself a woman who was a mortal. Naturally, that would displease Uchiha Fugaku to no end, because it was equivalent to the ultimate sign of defiance from his son`s part.

It was a miracle that his father hasn't forced him into an arranged marriage yet, just to get that problem solved.

"A woman? What does she have to do with Sasuke?"

"It is too complicated to explain now, but you will see tomorrow."

"Tomorrow we`ll all be fucked, man!" Kiba hollered as they stroll down the street, not wanting to take the roofs and act more out of that world than they were, scouting the area for transgressors of morality. "This is clearly about us, the Rebels! They plan to annihilate us, I so knew it!"

"Shut up Kiba, you are being too vocal. This is absurd, Fugaku wouldn't go as far as to summon the Council in order to take on his own son, get real."

"How troublesome."

.

.

.

* * *

Tiny bare toes were tapping to the balcony, as Sakura was enjoying the millions iridescent shimmering stars bedecking the afterglow velvet sky, leaning serenely with her elbows folded against her chest and resting towards the filigree railing, savoring the cool blow of the wind dancing playfully through her unfastened veil of virgin pink tresses and the pastel pink coquettish long silk and chiffon nightgown, exhaling contently.

Sasuke wasn't home when Ino drove her back to his flat and that airy spacious place was too cold and subdued without him around, enhancing the feeling of solitude sneaking into the tranquility of his residence, so the chartreuse eyed lady sought for the company of the effulgent nocturnal city lights and bright mysterious crescent half-moon above.

A gentle salty ocean breeze was occasionally smoothing the silk of her tresses, as fine luscious coral locks were percolating towards her opaline rounded shoulders.

The silk night robe embracing her violin outline was fluttering in an ethereal dance of soft shadows and fading lights. A natural forest green glow was clashing with the aureate ring around her irises; in the blue diamond fade pale moon light, she was presented as a nymph.

As her calm gaze was skimming over the lavender-onyx horizon, Sakura caught the sight of some fireflies drawing lazy patterns into the night sky, swarming before her eyes like a romantic pair taking a walk along the street, enjoying their intimate moments together and she smiled.

The nocturnal arcane was embellished with million twinkling stars, smiling right back at her in a mysterious salute. She tried in vain to fall asleep, understanding that there was no point in waiting for Sasuke to come back –they weren't husband and wife or even lovers so...- but another nightmare hit her from the basket of the darker parts of her mind and she gave up waking up trembling and hearing voices of a drunk man approaching her with malevolence and reeking of alcohol and disgust.

The natural instinct to defend herself against the dangers -alcoholic step family- was lurking from the pits of her mind as Sandman refused to lull her into sleep, so Sakura simply got cozy in Sasuke`s balcony.

She liked that place because it gave her the feeling that she was floating over the plush cute clouds with the angels.

The house was avian as a dragonfly, but without Sasuke, it lacked vitality and animation and it was almost eerie. Cold shivers punctured along the porcelain of her skin, covering her exposed forearms.

"Hm?" She let her head fall askew playfully watching midnight lucent creatures gracing the sky. "Aren't you quite the loner now?" A small smile kissed her heart shaped dark cherry lips, as she stretched her hand towards the fireflies, giggling at how such an unimportant vista reminded her of the elegant Uchiha Vampire. "So pretty..."

She always fell prey to the mesmerizing ephemeral mystical beauty of nature, enjoying the shimmering of fireflies emblazoning the night scenery. To her, they gleamed like unpolished precious diamond and their radiance was making her feel less lonely; like the sky was sending her small memories for her to grasp one and ingrain it into her mind.

In her haste to touch the gentle insect, Sakura hasn't realized that she tiptoed, having a loose grip around the bars of the railing, because she wasn't tall enough to reach them, bare toes curling around the edge of the balcony pocking on the outside. "Come here, don't be afraid to-"

In her overjoyed alacrity to touch the fireflies and catch one into her palm, Sakura felt herself losing balance because she wasn't attentive and miscalculated the force of gravity and her lack of coordination, as her hand slipped from the bar which wasn't that high, bending too much over the railing- an elegant modern combination of lace wooden design made in fretwork technique and colorful tinted glass- and she has been thrown on the other side of the balcony

Her heart leaped down her throat when she found herself projected into the embrace of the night abyss which was pulling her down to the ground, free _falling_ with her desperate hand stretched above her head, slim fingers missing one of the bars in a desperate attempt to catch it and prevent a tragedy, in vain. "Ah!"

 _Life…_ couldn't have been more _ironic._

Or _Death._

 _._

 _._

 _._

* * *

 **::A/N:: I know, not much SasuSaku in this chapter, but I wanted you to know exactly what is Sasuke and his group dealing with and how complicated things with the other Vampire Clans are in the world of Immortals.**

 **But I promise that the next update will be entirely SasuSaku. It was just that I want to take my time and focus more on building up an intimacy between them, and this is why I don`t want to rush things between them, this Sakura here is not promiscuous and very independent and moral, so I will stick to kisses and gradually increase the romantic moments between them.**

 **You guys know how much I like to emphasize the finesse and subtlety of feelings in my stories. By the way, speaking of intimate scenes, I want to let you know that the lemons are not going to be posted here, for the simple reason that I don't want to break the rules of the ratings, so I am going to make full usage of metaphors and subtle suggestions as much as I can and the full detailed scenes are going to be posted somewhere else, but no worries, I will give you the exact link to them, posting it on my profile when the time comes. I know it is frustrating, but I don't want unnecessary problems. There will still be very intimate moments, but I will keep them within the rating of the story, hence not get into graphic detailed scenes. I am sorry for this, I hope you will understand me.**

 **Yes, I know that I am only at the beginning of this story, I am trying to imagine the world of Vampires upon my own philosophy about Eternity in general and the concept of immortality and what transcends my comprehension, I will complete it with elements from the local folklore about Vampires. So naturally questions will arise. I will answer to all the questions about Vampires as I will update. Very good question with their sense for smelling blood, I hope this chapter made it clear.**

 **Another good question about Sasuke being the heir of an Immortal, I will of course clear that up too. What I can say for now is that I made 'research' hehe and yes, Vampires DO age, as much of a paradox it can be, but the rate of aging is definitely slower –much much much- slower than human`s aging process. Plus, Vampires can be killed so think about what might happen if Fugaku gets killed? Who will be his successor?**

 **I know that many of you guys are intrigued about who is Sakura and why is Sasuke so fond of her, but no worries, you will find out pretty soon –two or three chapters at most. I want to prolong the mystery.**

 **Anyways, arigatou gozaimashita Mina-** _ **sama**_ **for taking your time to read and follow this story and many thanks for all of you for leaving me reviews with the feedback for my work. You guys are definitely awesome!**


	7. Shades of night

**:: CHAPTER VII: SHADES OF** _NIGHT_ **::**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

 **::** One moment… later, and he would have **lost** her.

One moment… earlier, and he would have seen her **float** into the limbs of Eternity.

Existence encompasses every precious _memory_ ,

And gives it a meaning to all the faces whose **masks** have crumbled.

By the tiffany touch of a heartbeat,

A pair of glossy **orbs** have shared a trembling tear.

One more ardent embrace, and a pair of lips have bloomed into a red rose.

When one attempts to touch the _ineffable,_

She has to learn how to soar first, because the den of _eternal_ **light**

Only belongs to the majestic _horizon._

But when the moment comes for all the inhibitions to drop,

And _intimate_ feelings to supervene the lullaby of one  kiss, one touch,

Then every _dove_ turns into a _raven,_

As all the birds paint their faces in the **shades of the night::**

 **.**

 **.**

 **.**

* * *

How many seconds are there in an eternity?

The muffled sinister echo of her sylph form in its implacable free falling, approaching the ground at the speed of a meteor brushing over the starry sky, has resonated with the dreadful anticipation of the cruel contact.

Pain subsided in lieu to denial and Sakura fought the tears that lined along the curve of her eyelashes, as a suffocating silence kept on pounding into her eardrums, muffling her scream of help as words have been petrified along with the anesthetized senses and the only perception that came undone and violent, was the adrenaline rush of her innate reflexes as a mortal, to fear from the clutches of Death.

Although the crystalline tears trembled in frozen drops of apprehension not for her life entirely, but because the last thing that swept against her memories, was Uchiha Sasuke.

Death had a mysterious timing and an implacable power to condense eternity and the span of a lifetime into one single meaningful heartbeat , as it chooses it's time to swallow her entire life within when she least sought to most preserve it.

Sakura didn't want to die at this moment; she was just admiring the suave beautify of nature's gifts, and she found her careless mistake to be the supreme price to pay.

She did seek for the claws of the Grim Reaper, it was just an accident that Sasuke was going to misinterpret before she gets her chance to explain it to him and that thing alone created a laceration into her heart.

The handsome Vampire Prince who was willing to share with her the privacy of his life and even go as far as to promise her felicity in lieu for something so trivial for her –her blood– , will think of her as a woman who wasn't committed to the promise she made; but her word has been sincere and so were the feelings that came along the compass of her affiance.

"S-Sa–"

 _ **Sa**_ _ve me?_ _ **Sa**_ _suke?_ What was there latched on those quivering lips?

Her body was surged by the palpitations of her free fall, as the repugnant malicious scent of approaching death made her sway from the road of sanity, flickering to a hollow despair and petrifying mortification.

Sakura was quivering helplessly trying to tame the frenetic tremors of her heart, like a fallen leaf landing on the polished surface of the water, sending fine ripples in languishing circles along the glossy veneering.

It all happened in the span of a nanosecond, as her consciousness was swirling in a synesthesia of despair, denial and lack of power to grasp something to cling on, but soon it has been reduced to an immensurable high pitched shriek into her eardrums, making her go blind and deaf and she shut her orbs, as her mind preserved one last bit of sanity and not allow her to watch her indomitable ending straight in its mocking eye.

A rose haired swan was fluttering its wings across the meadows of the night and she could feel it through every pore; taste it, tape it and swallow it sound and steady –soon, it will be over. One more minute…

One more blink of an eye, her mind had a slow shutdown as it counted the seconds that soon will be fusing with eternity.

 _Dying_ … was a funny thing.

Just one less breathing and she will hit the front alley of Sasuke`s complex of exquisite flats, probably making the headlines by the next day.

One last heartbeat, until her deepest wish will be coming true… Suddenly, there was no colors, no sounds reverberating through her ears from the never sleeping town, no fragrances coming to caress her nostrils from the bouquets of white lilies that were planted along the alleys, in a deep symbol of her _last_ road to Infinity and no life.

There was only the evanescent melodic sound of her heart thumping desperately in her pounding chest to pump life through her system obediently and diligently, until the end and keep her hopes high until the very last.

' _Forgive me for not being able to keep my vow to you… Sasuke.'_

And she found the power to smile.

'Goodbye.'

His memory was the last irreplaceable memory that will soothe her in the next life after her spirit will finally be set free from its carcass and from the world that repulsed her, and no one will miss her or cry for her. Maybe only _he_ , the wielder of Immortality, will find one last tear to shed for her spirit.

A clangorous howl encompassed her silhouette, echoing menacingly as a sinking ship, being swallowed by the cavernous ghostly abyss of the waters and she knew that this was it – her last moments before violently colliding with the ground.

One **last heartbeat** and she will be…

"AAHH!" A familiar ascertainable bouquet of burnt cedar, razor ocean waves and musk wrapped its overwhelming limbs across her helpless figure, hitting her nostrils like a rippling wave hitting sharp cliffs on the coastline and sending her almost benumbed senses into a frenetic storm, when Sakura found herself colliding with something that wasn't what she would have anticipated.

Because next thing she knows, Sakura found herself landing straight into _Sasuke`s_ insurmountable open arms, that came between Death and her for the second time, as he nonchalantly caught her into his embrace and cupped her into his iron chest, bridal style, like the amplitude of her fall and the force of gravity weighed nothing for his immensurable strength, catching her fall from that height like she was just a tiffany snowflake that landed on the tip of his nose.

It was pure innate habit the thing that leads Sakura to automatically span her quivering hands around his shoulders and curl around his neck in a tight embrace, as he felt the familiar sweltering radiance of his nimble body overwhelm the fear of colliding with the cold concrete, strengthening his hold on her; she knew he did it out of pure concern for her mental state, rather than the need to adjust her into his arms, because he didn't pull a muscle, not even tensing his shoulders to catch her.

The sole token of having a cargo within his arms was the flexing of his sculpted biceps molding sensually on the leather jacket that covered his upper torso.

Her mind couldn't even begin to register what has just happened, but one thing was for certain: Sasuke has saved her life again. "H—H-How–"

It was utterly impossible to summon any fragment of coherence in that moment, because it was only when adrenaline hit her temples full force in a dizzying wave, has Sakura realized that she was trembling like an abandoned kitten in the rain and her rose cheeks were rinsed in the moist tears that percolated in cascades from her shimmering emerald eyes.

How could he have such an amazing timing once again, was beyond Sakura, but she thanked all the Deities around for him to be so intuitive and spontaneous?

Trembling in his arms, Sakura immediately nuzzled her head under his chin, breathing a generous amount of his unique smell, trying to cease away anything that wasn't Sasuke and it was his quintessence of nature`s elements immixed with his masculine fragrance, the thing that washed relief through her like a mantra.

Forest green orbs intertwined with sparkling gold sought for his face; she needed to see his beautiful onyx eyes more than ever, and make sure that she was indeed still alive and not a cruel memory conjured by her sojourn through the tunnel to the Afterlife, but he didn't elongate his stare to her. "S–Sasuke…" Her lips murmured his name in a dance of tears, relief, and emotion, but he gave her no answer.

Instead, Sasuke simply leaped, while his left foot defiled the clutches of gravity and any laws of Physics, arching his long neck to face the lucent halo of the moon, bleeding red and silvery–blue, mirroring into his sapphire irises as he zoomed into it, literarily flying to his large open veranda, without bothering to take the elevator.

Because like Hell will he risk to encounter any of his neighbors or the security guard on his way to his apartment, carrying a woman in a night robe bridal style, while looking like she has just escaped from a sinking ship, in the middle of the Arctic Ocean.

Plus, every single pore of Sakura`s body, as she was encompassed by tremors of sheer horror and made her feel like a lost butterfly with a broken wing, as well as her glossy orbs that momentarily lost life force, screamed to Sasuke that she wanted to be taken home pronto, so he took the fastest way, namely… flying her back from where she fell.

In his mind, it made perfect sense.

Imponderability was an amazing thing, Sakura. Her heart leaped into her throat as she felt the invisible wings carrying them both against the gravity and high to the majestic arcade of the velvet nocturnal starry sky, it was incredible.

Sakura had no idea how, but she could clearly perceive it through the cold shivers prickling along her bare exposed forearms: Sasuke was _not_ pleased of how he found her when coming back home.

In her drunken mind, she hasn't even realized that the flicker that surged through her mind, harbored the title of 'home' and not simply 'house', making its resonance be more intimate and familiar.

Sasuke cupped her against his chest, carrying her lithe form like a bride descending from the sky, floating over a carpet of twinkling stars and, had it been in a less life-threatening context, that short journey would have been romantic.

The Vampire Prince, the embodiment of life-suckling and the wielder of the veil of the night, has returned her last heartbeat back to her racing heart.

Sakura swore that her chest will combust of so many pumps that her poor organ thumped madly and her ribcage barely contained the amount of oxygen that she inhaled. Her lips were wide opened to welcome the fresh air – the taste of _life_ against her lips felt like the finest Ambrosia.

Sasuke landed graciously on the veranda, without making any sound, being agile and delicate like a puma.

She was still clutching him for dear life when they reached the safety of his airy home, but made no attempt to detach from him and thankfully enough, the silent Vampire let her stay cuddled into his arms, before giving her a short gentle tug and she unglued her damp cheek from the hollow of his neck, where it rested.

Slowly, he loosened his left hand that was curled under her knees, as her diaphanous nightgown rippled high along her calves and she tapped her toes against the cool marble. _Safety_ has engulfed her like a cozy fireplace and her skin basked into it.

She hiccupped once involuntarily to draw the fresh tears back, brushing her jade orbs with the palm of her right hand as her left one slide along Sasuke`s shoulder, while he guided her into a standing position. His right hand was barely brushing the curve of her waist like he was afraid that she will fall down any moment and break.

Emerald orbs sought for black sapphire and this time, Sakura indeed found Sasuke gazing right down at her and for a moment, her breath hitched midways in her throat.

No, he could asses her with any look, but not that lackluster glance that was as impenetrable as a fortress. She knew he will mistake her action but Sakura didn't expect him to appear so… discontent, almost… angry with her.

"Sasuke… I–"

The gleaming silver curtain of his ceiling high cut glass windows was fluttering in the serene windblown, as he simply stood before her, motionless and laconic, watching her deeply and irresistibly, as worry immixed with the unreadable expressions that the nocturnal beauty of his onyx eyes harbored.

Before she could assert her mellow explanation, Sasuke cut her speech right from the roots. His agile fingers entwined in the swell of a curl that was framing her cheek, as his knuckles brushed over the fine river of tears meandering along her outline and almost spat to her in a way colder than the approaching Death itself.

"You _promised_ me, Sakura."

She started to shake her head, becoming desperate in her plea. Sakura hated how guilty and shaky her broken voice dissipated to him. "No, I... y-you have misunderstood–"

"I cannot help you if you do not yen to be helped." His touch lingering on her hair, so fragile and so delicate, was not pairing with the ice storm look in his eyes.

When he looked at her like that, Sasuke looked like another person. He wasn't bubbling with undone fury just like when she had a slip of a tongue about his fiancé, so he didn't scare her, but that style of pinning her like an icicle, emblazoned with the lack of emotion –so hollow and merciless– was even worse.

She felt the solitude weighing on her chest like a boulder. There was a miniature of a stilt house inside her, weeping endlessly in cold hard drops.

A silence percolating like drops of steel spanned between them as Sakura was summoning the most intelligent words to explain herself, but that ice block was preventing her from entering in the pits of his heart –where she could communicate.

It was a new face of Sasuke that she hasn't had the displeasure to meet so far, but it was even more frightening than the approaching Death itself. Her spine filled with cold shivers again; Sasuke proved it to her that a delicate touch, could be either charming warm or vapid petrifying. She wanted to slap his hand a way, but somehow she found herself exploding in a desperate kinesics.

"Sasuke!" She supplicated in a tingle of her bell voice that raised two octaves in the stillness of the night, ringing so high for the first time in a pleading scream, and cupping his high cheeks with her sweating palms and her touch alone sufficed in successfully silencing him. "Listen to me _please_ , you have misunderstood it, Sasuke." Her inflection broke to a melancholic whisper, as she sought for patience into the obsidian nebula of his intense gaze. "I wasn't about to–"

Words that Sakura couldn't whisper remained entrapped into her eyes; she knew that Sasuke could read right through them with those beautiful eyes that refused to trust her. She had to try one more time, she couldn't face his rejection; not in this form.

In those two days and a half that Sakura came to spend in Sasuke`s blissful company, she grew to depict something crucial about him: this Prince was a royalty of honor and trustworthiness in the plenitude of his title. To Sasuke, a _promise_ was more valuable than gold.

She knew that he had unpleasant memories of _humans_ –fiancés– who broke their vow and, judging from what Ino has disclosed to her, Sasuke has grown to be quite circumspect in trusting humans and trust their word.

Suddenly, something luminous and magical has twinkled at the corner of her gaze and Sakura`s entire atmosphere turned brighter than the moon`s mysterious rays that showered their silhouettes and she sang to him dreamy.

"I… was just chasing _fireflies_ , when I grew careless and sidestepped. That's all, I haven't tried to j-jump again. Look!" She outstretched her finger to the two approaching twinkling dots of light, as two familiar nocturnal luminescent beetles were designing fractals of light on the purple dark canvas of the night.

Sasuke perked a fine raven eyebrow up, as his gaze passed Sakura`s shoulder, his velvet voice still harboring a hint of disbelief. "Fireflies?" Sakura detached from him abruptly, letting his hands slide along his cheeks and she padded two steps in the direction of the glass railing to span her palm towards the beautiful creatures.

She has been _honest_ with him.

Indeed, two bright fireflies were sewing an embroidery of light above his balcony, raising like golden bubbles of Champagne across the sky. The midnight eyed Vampire couldn't believe that Sakura has almost died in such a stupid way, namely slip past the railing while she did something so puerile.

 _Innocence_ …

…was a double edged sword.

But instead of focusing his gaze on such feeble creatures, Sasuke's onyx eyes remained enthralled on Sakura`s balletic silhouette, following the limber motion of her night gown, fluttering in the wind following the motion of her spinning body. The folds molded around her slim bare ankles, creating an evanescent effect around her body.

Now that she wasn't in danger anymore, Sasuke took his precious time to breath this woman in, in all the glory of her beauty and oh… what a mesmerizing show it was.

He was so mentally tired and displeased with the _creatures_ that he has encountered tonight, that Sasuke just looked in anticipation to come home and found his beautiful protégée being clumsy and bright in his lifeless house.

Her welcome surprise was indeed… _spectacular_. Oh Kami, Sakura was keeping him, a Vampire, on the edge 24/7.

The luminous silvery–blue sapphire blades of the moon's rays were caressing every crevice of her beauty, spanning along the tenderness of her scintillating skin. The fine china porcelain skin, harbored a delicate virgin shade of pink peonies, falling gracefully to the succulent highlight of her full cherry lips that were beseeching to be loved by _his_ mouth, as Sasuke fantasized himself tasting her ravenously and passionately, while Sakura would arch against his body and dance along the embers of _his_ _fire._

Her hair was glowing under the splendor of the moon and it looked like being sewed with stars, sprinkled across her locks; she was exotic, evergreen, so ineffable, but at the same time, entrapping a subtle touch of a peculiar sensuality into her atmosphere, that made Sasuke`s chest arch with an ardent tussle to relieve something that was bubbling so nimble inside his heart.

He simply couldn't look away and yet, Sakura was dancing on the night's veil, like a nymph. Something within him told Sasuke to break down his walls, seize the moment of her virtue and bask under the rays of her luminous sun; under the spell of a feeling that he knew long forgotten.

He almost confused the sentiment to oblivion, but he couldn't stop himself from following details unseen for the human eye that enfolded so clear before him.

The motion of Sakura`s stretched limbs trying to catch a firefly into her palm, the grace of her toes tipping on his balcony – so reminiscent to a siren`s magnetizing dance– the vivid child in her gestures… his heart suddenly picked another cadence and his chest clutched briskly.

The feel of her taste still persisted juicily on his lips and Sasuke found it difficult to preserve his steady self-control in her presence, as his natural coldness become upstream and faded through his fingertips, just like her mirage.

Sakura kept on giving him bits and bits, not enough to get him drunk, but enough to be reeling tipsy and become highly addicted for her succulent taste, until he would beg to get completely intoxicated. His mouth felt depleted of taste and dry, while a honey taste still lingered on the tip of his tongue.

When the woman with the most scintillating emerald orbs untangled from his arms she took away the warmth and radiance and, faded into the cold silver-blue night scenery, reminding Sasuke of how absolutely lonely he felt, surrounded by his pedestrian walls; so lifeless and out of light, only enhancing the fact that he was a _dead_ man.

Sakura brought the tenderness of being alive back into his gloomy world. Sasuke could give her immense pleasure, he could lay any diamond at her feet, he was capable to wrap her nights into passion and erotica, and he was willing to try and grant her any wish, and now that he has been enlighten about her **real** identity, Sasuke felt those encased feelings of affection struggle to be set free for her. He could ultimately give her **love** ; _his_ love –but he was vulnerable in front of an implacable truth: he didn't know if she will **accept** him, as he couldn't force her into anything that she wasn't willing to consent.

 _To love her..._ To be _hers_ during nights like this, securely residing into his strong arms, to pamper her opaline skin with sweet kisses and make her arch against his touches and seek for pleasure that he could give, was all a sweet chimera, worth of being chased.

Sasuke found himself involuntarily elevate his left hand in the direction of her lithe shadow, as Sakura continued to gaze to the sky, admiring nature`s wonders as he was picturing her into his arms, and slowly spread his fingers wide open to her, akin to the folds of an _uchiwa_ expecting the warmth of her breeze to touch him gently, then slowly enclosed his fingers until the distance tricked him into thinking that she fit into his palm.

Oh, how sweet was that mirage, leaving him thirsty and desperate for an oasis, finding himself alone in the scorching dry desert, left to perish into the golden sand without her.

For a moment... just one _dreading_ moment... his **heartbeat** missed its disciplined harmony and leaped a _beat_.

Heavens, it has been _hundreds_ of years since he felt that soaring emotion creeping along his spine; it begged to be preserved. Sasuke shut his eyes for a moment… just one moment.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" Sakura`s lullaby voice brought him back to his balcony. He flickered his onyx orbs to her _smiling_ radiance. "It has been such a long time since I used to look for fireflies. They are so hard to find this days… "

Sakura`s voice sounded like a harmonious violin song to his eardrums; emotional, serene, upbeat, hopeful, but still preserving its melancholic solfeggio. "I always liked fireflies."

She told him dreamy, seeming to have lost the adrenaline rush from earlier and it vanished with her fear of dying as well, because she came swaying back to him, stopping right in front of a Sasuke, who was his usual stoic self, but his aura wasn't angered anymore. "If I can catch one, then I can make a wish" A mesmerizing smile bloomed on her rose lips.

Sasuke simply watched her in silence.

Her beauty was like a cold star: a frozen delicacy, embellished by a blue diamond hue, giving her ivory pallor a regal Goddess veneer, so unreachable, so tempting, so untouchable. A dark desire churned within the curve of his lower abdomen as Sasuke was trailing his smoldering eyes along every shimmering detail.

Sakura bore that magnetically mysterious beauty that turned innocent into desire and _sensual._ Her white-pastel pink nightgown that veiled her body into a brocade lightsome light, looked like a dragonfly's wing around her curves, barely concealing the natural glow of her pearl skin from his hungry eyes.

The folds of her princess garment fluttered along the gentle wind blow's lulling caress and she seemed to be floating on the moonlight's wings. The emerald into her eyes were challenging him and seeking for something that he couldn't decipher.

Sakura expected _something_ from him, but she didn't know _how_ to ask for it. Her look was an enthralling tumult of pleading, searching, longing and indulging into every figment of desire conjured by her darkest thoughts; that much Sasuke could depict.

How easy would be for the mighty Vampire to just pretend that he correctly interpenetrated her subtle messages and make her writhe against him as he rode her pleasure with the fire of his own. How utterly simple would it be to command her body to whimper his name in absolute pleasure as he spilled his quintessence inside her and fill both her body and her wishes with his own twitching one.

A burning sensation unexpectedly started to flicker inside him, a dormant inferno stirred and roared to life, while pumping a visceral desire that could have been translated into a carnal need to cover the layers of her skin with his touches, adorn the sweetness of her taste with his lips as he would fondle her lovingly, and carry her dreams all through the night, dancing together and sway from passion to warmth, palm to palm and forehead to forehead, as _one_ single heartbeat.

How wrong were the ones who begrudge Sasuke for _apparently_ having been gifted to the entire world as he led a fustian life, soaked in luxuries and anything came to him as natural just because Fate has placed the seed of his soul into an _Uchiha's_ infant, that already bore the blue blood of a royalty, seeping through his veins; how _derisive_ those facts were and how sheer insignificant for someone with _his_ concept of the world.

Because in reality, there was indeed something that Sasuke really took a shine to, but _unfortunately..._

Not able to stop himself, Sasuke`s hand reached for her fluttering hair, and his fingers sought for a wave of her cotton candy locks that shone like million pink crystals of tourmaline sewed into her locks, with a touch so fine-grained, as if he was tentatively feeling dew drops, afraid not to have them perish under his warmth, marveling at how incredibly beautiful she was in his eyes.

His raven eyelashes fell down ever so briskly just to slide open again, fluttering in an enthralling blink, seemingly to adore her beauty inside the intimacy of his memories and heart –a place that no one was permitted to transgress; a territory that has been sacred and forbidden… until now.

Sasuke breathed her in, as breathtaking as she was before him.

 _...it still seemed so far out of his reach._

"You are right. They are indeed _beautiful_." What Sakura didn't know, was that Sasuke`s eyes weren't focused on the fireflies, and neither was his mind, but they were glancing at her.

A tranquilizing wind was dancing through Sakura`s long hair, as waves of roseate ringlets were rolling over her shoulders, beautifully crayoned by the night gown she wore, rippling along her body as deep lazy ocean waves, colliding with the natural glow of her fine opaline skin.

"I know, right?" Her giggle molded with the **shades of night** in a suave harmony. Sakura giggled at her own youthful exuberance, but her laughter reverberated through Sasuke`s senses in waves of warmth. "I am so childish, aren't I?"

The beautiful rosette turned her head from the zooming out fireflies, to her rescuer. "Let's get inside, it's getting kind of–" Her bright smile froze midways as Sakura realized just how close she stepped to Sasuke and what little effort would it take to kiss him, as their faces were basically shadowing one another, but he didn't seem to mind because he made no gestures to step back or show reticence and discontent about their positions and neither did she move; practically the delicious taste of his sweet warm lips was percolating on her own.

She just had to lean forward and meet them in an embrace. "–c–cold..." She finished awkwardly, with a cute flush of her cheeks.

On the contrary, the atmosphere was really _hot._

Sakura could feel it stroll all along her skin –the shuddering sensation washing down her spine, her uneven galloping breath, the incandescence electricity unfolding between them; the air felt charged with sparkles of want, lust and yen.

And Sasuke`s eyes… oh, Heavens, his _eyes_ were luscious like polished chrome. A spontaneous confession erupted from the pits of her fluttering heart. "I... am so glad you are back, Sasuke…" Sakura gulped once as feelings that she could depict were knotting into her throat.

"God only knows why but I–I… have _m_ – _missed_ you terribly." What was she talking about? He was out only for few hours but something… she couldn't stop her mouth from saying those things. Sasuke`s eyebrows slide in a ghost of a confused frown.

It was like her heart just couldn't take anymore of that silence and strived for its voice to be heard by him; like she wasn't referring to his little sojourn to a deprived part of the city, but to all the time that they have been strangers –that they were separated, before they met. It was sentiments that Sakura couldn't explain, but nor was she able to stop them from soaring to the surface. "I want to stay here with... with _you_ ," She could see his hard obsidian orbs suddenly soften at her unpredicted words and a warmer silvery light melted into his orbs. "for as long as I have left to live in this world–"

She didn't miss the way his shoulders flexed for a moment when she susurrated the last words, but he played in a way that she didn't expect, namely his hand enfolded around her waist and his fingers pressed on the curb of her lower back.

"I apologize for my outburst." He breathed politely to her and thankfully, she found the already familiar grace into his words. "I keep on being leery with you and only present you my impudent side." Sasuke was visibly ashamed of his vulgar approach in the presence of a lady, but he couldn't help himself when he foolishly thought that she wanted to take her life again.

"How disgraceful for a Prince to be so unpolished when in the presence of a lady." Slowly, magnetizingly, his hand traipsed higher along her spine, brushing over her shoulder blades until they reached her shoulders, his touch electric.

Sakura felt her entire body combust and shiver in delight at his contact. The tips of his fingers brushed against her jaw, reaching higher on her oval face, up to the crown of her head, where her silk treads whirled in cascades along her heart shaped forehead, and she lost the touch with the gravity under his genial caress.

This Vampire`s grace challenged the strings of the harps playing in Paradise and suddenly the tumult compiled within her the nest of her heart has dissipated like shimmering dew drops in the wind. Sakura perceived the tickles of his caressing effervescent warmth suffusing through her body as it threatened to deliquesce like steaming chocolate under his touch.

The resonance of Sasuke`s contralto timbre was sufficient to elicit a smothering peace into her tempestuous chest, where her heart ticked away the figment of dread conjured by her free falling, and approaching the claws of Death has never been so dreadful.

Sasuke's elegant tone spread across her shivering skin, making her entire body tremble in anticipation. He was delicious like dark chocolate and velvet lace, even when murmuring to her words of care and apologize, like no one else did before. "Will you forgive me?"

Entranced by the exquisitely of the resplendent handsome Vampire Prince, Sakura had troubles in remembering the core of their small argument.

Why was Sasuke apologizing for when she was the one to commit such a silly mistake, that almost cost her little life? "You have nothing to apologize for." She shook her head and gave him a sheepish smile, nipping on her lower lip so as to not start to smile like an idiot of how good his hands on her felt, or how delicious his beautiful eyes were set on her? "You saved my pathetic life once again, Sasuke. Why?"

It was so ironic that shock only came back resurfacing to her and she just couldn't top a trail of fresh tears to stream down her emeralds.

Oh Heavens, it was in that exact moment when it dawned to Sakura that she truly didn't want to die, yet she has been so close to face that nightmare. "Oh, my God… I am so scared, Sasuke." She squeezed her eyes shut and cursed herself for being so weak before him.

But Sasuke read her like an opened scroll. His bare knuckles rippled on the girl's moist rose cheeks, as his onyx eyes were stealing the apprehension from her gaze. Eyes bluer than a crystalline lagoon filled with pools of tears, while looking and silently imploring him for something she wished for in the name of her entire human kind: _a savior._

Unfortunately, he wasn't a hero. He was the solitary _anti–hero_ , whose malice against the crimes of his brothers Vampires were syphoning not from rightfulness and morality, but disgust against the segregated prejudices, flowing through his veins, as he spent every second of his existence fighting it off his system.

 _I say is all in vain…._

Sakura seemed to have been elated by the finesse of his impeccable precise touch, mindful of the meaning behind it _–_ a simple gesture aiming to alleviate the fear, yet it brought Sasuke back to mirror Sakura's sudden fear, when he lost self _–_ control and left her with the false presumption of him being angry with her and ultimately pose as a _threat_ to her, which was exactly the type of feeling that Sasuke was fighting to disavow.

Sakura has been _scared_ by his outbreak, just like the rose haired young woman before him was torn between what to believe and who to trust. It was the most horrifying experience. How could his family _–_ his own inheritance, flesh and blood call _–_ keep on nourishing and bathe into that pool of blood and grotesque?

It was ludicrous and the testimony of how abject it was, was the misery of her tattered seeping trembling frail form, her helpless tears and the desperation of seeking a benefactor in someone as dark as a Pegasus, with his proud raven wings, scattering justice among the mortals and taking the side of a Demi _–_ God.

Sakura was visibly infatuated by his telestic amazing beauty and grace because she stopped trembling and leaned into the comfort of his touch. Being watched at as the personification of succubus represented Sasuke's worst nightmare. If he was to fight against a system segregated into the realm of Vampires for centuries, then Sasuke would do that till the end of his days.

He wasn't a hero. _Naruto_ on the other hand, had the lion heart to rise above the crowns of the emperors of the Vampire's history of blood, and pass judgment which sprung from his the stubborn never giving up warrior, blazing and shining within him, embodying the glory of the peoples' and Vampires' aspirations. He had the potential of making people seek a prophet within, as someone to follow to rightfulness, not Sasuke.

He didn't even want to be someone that the others might follow obediently, and built a temple in glorification of his memory. No, Sasuke would gladly let Naruto be the voice that could make people and _V_ ampires conjoin, unify their ideals and built up a world void of tears of blood.

And Sasuke would gladly remain intertwined into the limbs of darkness and watch from afar, taking care of the ones in need, without revealing his face to them. He didn't need glory and adulation like his father or his clan members.

He only needed their cooperation. And if they weren't willing to open up their minds, then he would _–_

A side sexy smirk stole Sakura`s breath away, as she too was checking him on in silence, but unlike him, she was not so subtle. "You fell from Heaven, straight into my arms." He asserted as a matter of fact like it was something common for him to save suicide ladies at the last moment.

"You could have... stepped _away,_ you know?" She averted her gaze from him, coming up with a cynic yet smartass retort.

She didn't know why she blurted out something so stupid instead of expressing her gratitude; maybe it was her need for Sasuke to confirm that he indeed _cared_ for _her_.

"I could have also been too late." He stunned her with so much relief brushing his voice. Sasuke was already _so_ late in winning her heart because they have only met now. If only she would love him back _… just for a moment–_

 _One moment…_

Sakura was stupefied by how many emotions seemed to spout into the ashy _–_ obsidian depths of his eyes, whenever he interacted with her, gazing through the gleam of her emerald diamonds like peeping through the open windows of her soul, searching, beckoning her to let him in and almost imploring and begging for her light to dissipate the darkness of his solitude.

Languidly, almost tentatively, the crests of his fingertips slithered along the contour of her cheek and stopped at the corner of her mouth, gently brushing over the small lump of her upper lip, that arched sensually like Cupid's arrow, so kissable and luscious, molded into the shape of love. "Losing you _–_ "

Sakura's heart leaped into her throat at the unexpected warmth dissipating through the arcade of her chest at the intimate contact, as she involuntarily parted her lips to make a place for more oxygen to ventilate her lungs. She kissed the tip of his finger as Sasuke had not removed his hand from her face.

Slender digits cupped the curve of her pointed chin in a loving embrace, having the same resonance akin to a mother fondling her new born baby.

"I do not want to conceptualize how it would be like to be impoverished of your presence _again_." _Now that I found you._ Missives that Sasuke could not disclose were sealed into his thin lips, but he hoped that his gestures and the flaming passion in his onyx eyes, were reaching to her own heart, pleading to be listened and understood.

"S–Sasuke _–_ " She could depict a nimble knock pounding timidly on the doorsteps of her heart but before she pondered about what it represented, her dizzy mind lead her to make a mistake and state. "I see... don't worry, I will not betray our oath. I will keep," Involuntarily her fingertips brushed over the barely visible markings of Sasuke's vampire fangs, bedecking the span of her pulse. "my promise _–_ "

By casting her head down in what could be depicted as a disenchanted kinetics at his supposed implication, Sakura missed the brisk falter in Sasuke's steadfast breathing and, for a moment, his lithe shoulders bullied and his body went tense. The hand that loved her face in such a caring manner freeze for a moment as he half shut his obsidian orbs. Sakura has mistaken his bona fide gesture, for his thirst for her blood.

She was genuinely convinced of the fact that he found her valuable for her claret essence of life and nothing else, but oh how utterly wrong she was.

Of course, her Lethe was a justifiable reason for she has been deprived of the knowledge about her real identity the entire time, and Sakura didn't share the condemnation to the ones that kept her in the shadows, but it still churned inside his chest in a way that it shouldn't have had.

 _But it does._

"My vow to you is for eternity, Sakura." His words were so deep and so far out of reach, seemingly metamorphosed in ice butterflies emerging from the shadows of his heart; cold, beautiful, untouchable, and lonely. " one-lifetime promise that depicts my gift for you." And by that his double implication resonated to her understanding of Vampires _–_ to an Immortal, such a promise spanned across eternity, so consequently the ravishing Uchiha heir vouched to grant her felicity forever.

 _If you will let me, then I will make you forever happy. Forever you… forever me… and forever us._

Lulled by the depths of his promise, Sakura has been transpired into taking a perusal of his lithe form, as he stood there one breath away from her, barely touching her skin. And for the first time since he came back, Sakura realized that Sasuke changed clothes and they were a far cry from his usual meticulous elegant self.

Due to Ino`s words, Sasuke transformed into a silent hero, along with his friends, because she has never would have guessed that she would phantom Sasuke being so rebel and masculine in leather clothes, but there he was, entirely wrapped in slick clothes that augmented each crest of his supple muscles, deliciously enhancing the perfection of his tall and stalwart form.

Honestly, this bad _–_ boy veneering was closer to the dark and dangerous image of Vampires, and easier to relate to folklore… and erotic, but Sakura would never admit that out loud. A leather jacket with electric blue shades streaming along his dark sleeves rode up to his waist.

His deliciously sculpted torso couldn't have been more perfect outlined than in the slick pitch black blouse that seemed softer than any material, molding over his abs.

And those equally skinny pants, ending up in high combat boots, embellished with a simple silver chain where something akin to a holster was wrapped around his thigh, did little to conceal his toned long legs.

Sakura`s mind went suddenly _–oh. my. holly. damn. he. is. so. freaking. gorgeous–_ and she was positive that her orbs were gleaming lust from miles away. Honestly, Sasuke looked ten times hotter with that gothic–rockstyle.

The grace of the moon rays was dancing on his illuminated pristine face, augmenting the sensuality of his strong masculine outlines, tracing along the sharp contour of his oval shaped face and high alabaster royal cheeks.

This Vampire Prince has challenged the mesmerizing delicious definition of beauty`s most supreme elegance, in terms of handsomeness, he was irresistibly beautiful, like he wasn't even _real_ but an enigma that the charmed woman in her has crayoned with the power of her ideal of a man, albeit Sasuke has crushed every fragment of gorgeous in her mind.

An angel he was definitely not, Sakura decided, but his soul was also too principled, noble and moral to belong to a demon, and that was making him a living oxymoron: Sasuke had the features of a cherub entombed in the dark kiss of the moon and darkness, coating him in the royal color of the King of crepuscule, kissing his dark striking features, embellishing his soft raven hair and his black sapphire eyes. _Those eyes..._

Her digits burned with the ardent desire to sizzle with the outline of his chiseled muscles sizzling under her fingerprints.

A dew of crystalline perspiration was sensually rolling down his carved– in– marble body, strolling in a sinuous path along the peaks and crevices of his sculpted abdomen, and her breath was becoming a ticking pendulum clock trapped in the fascination of his Roman emperor statue like silhouette, as it was dangerously strolling down to the waistband of his black pants –her heart was fluttering like a timid chrysalides metamorphosing into a gentle suave butterfly, seeking for the sun`s warm embrace.

Emerald orbs returned back to his face; timid fingertips brushing his cheek, tentatively so as she was afraid that he was made from sea foam and his beauty would perish under the touch of her hand, akin to the rolling waves washing away the dreams to infinite and ineffable.

But instead of whisking her hand off his person, Sasuke half shut his obsidian eyes, watching her through his velvet curtain of delicate long raven lashes, eyes illuminated with a warm touch of flickering chandeliers and filled with a lustrous sizzling gleam that bore into her and played the strings of her heart in a way that made Sakura`s entire body jitter and her blood to steam like a volcano.

He was his usual peculiar stoic self, but Sasuke definitely looked younger, more masculine and sharp, rougher and arrogant, albeit in a way that was too sexy for her not to whip her head back to ogle him.

Sasuke could feel Sakura`s heartbeat thumping through her fingertips; a crystalline sound of a Stradivarius violin, trying to fall into the tango steps with his own one. The flickering into their eyes embraced into a passionate tango, while her palm fell on his chest, trying to feel something inside him flourishing and striving to come alive again.

There was so much turbulence into those sparkling emerald eyes, that got Sasuke enmeshed into deciphering every line. Sakura was openly inviting him to see into her soul, feel her sadness, leading him through the labyrinth of her heart to the core of her sadness.

Something flickered in the air; the tension between them escalated rapidly and swept its face to something more intimate. They both felt it, unmistakably –it was made of desire.

Slowly, tentatively as if his fingertips were made of fine brocade barely coming to an electrical inexistent distance from her skin, Sasuke let his digits slide along the planes of Sakura`s bare forearms, unhurriedly and soothing, as a new unexpected wave of heat has run along the column of her spine. Her slender long arms were delicate and elegant, he noticed, like Greek caryatids.

His spine was smug and lean, his posture was imposing, regal and dominating, the ample planes of his sculpted back conjoined into the shape of elegant shoulders, as they took form in the outline of two colonnades, revealing Sasuke in all his pulchritudinous Godly appearance.

The silver crown around his irises shone with so many artistry, conveying a message that stole Sakura`s breath away; they comprised so many emotions; she could read the disappointment at her reaction and even if she got lost in the onyx labyrinths of his irises' smoldering shade, Sakura couldn't find fear in the way her heart's steps took a sharp turn to start a new upbeat waltz.

She experienced it every time he looked at her that way: like she meant the world to him. That was the despair of a lover for his beloved one. A filigree intimacy aroused between them, veiling Sasuke and Sakura in an intimate atmosphere.

The sound of the night city has fallen into a whimsical buzz, while the atmosphere paled into a fading distance, and the tangible contours of Sasuke`s balcony molded into a sensual enigma, clashing with the serene tune of the crickets.

Every feeling into Sakura's body dematerialized and suddenly, her senses spiked and went haywire. Magically, the stars seemed brighter and closer illuminating her view on the beautiful Vampire that she couldn't peel her orbs off, refusing to blink in order not to slay that new pleasurable tension between them.

She felt it sound and clear, approaching her heart, brushing over her skin and encompassing her form and ungluing her toes from the cool marble –it was uplifting. Sakura`s breath became laborious, her lips were tickling with a delightful anticipation and every fragment of her skin implored for Sasuke`s closeness.

Time seemed to span to an endless elongation before it turned into ice and stood frozen. A million tingles jittered into the girl`s every pore, creating a divine sound of a choir of jittering bells, as Sasuke touched her in a way that no other could caress her.

Breathing normally seemed like a trespasser into the realm of a fairy world; Sasuke`s gestures were summoning a new dimension of lightening percolating across her skin, as she immediately resonated to his melody; Sakura leaned happily into his touch as Sasuke's fingertips slide along a tuck of the coral hair that he was playing with, until he reached to the side of her face, gently cupping the fine bone of her cheek, in a loving tender caress.

She indulged into the addictive feeling of being touched by the gorgeous Vampire and didn't fight against the fall of her eyelashes, while she closed her eyelids, to connect to the intense warm feeling that crossed through her body in waves of heat, sighing softly when his thumb fondled her cheek.

Heavens, he elicited so many feelings with such a simple gesture. Sakura silently wished for Sasuke to never stop touching her the way he did, and even go as far as to give her _more._

If only she knew that every detail from her body language didn't slip unnoticed by his smoldering eyes and Sasuke knew that he was also _powerless_ to deny her silent request.

The air around them charged with sparkles of electricity, getting lukewarm and dizzying. Neither of the two of them seemed to realize that they both fell prey to the spellbinding yen to get closer to each other, as they both took a step forward until their chest brushed against each other.

A ghost of a touch between their tapping chests has been enough for their thoughts to conjoin into an upbeat impulse to drive into the spur of the moment and play along that _call._

Sasuke slides his fingers deep into her lucent silk hair and brushed the locks that framed her temple to unravel the heart shape of her visage, and when Sakura opened up her eyes wide and shimmering, he froze for a moment to admire that look in her jewels.

Eyes… that entrapped the purest cut of an emerald diamond, shone brighter than any star as they were bathed in sheer lust and longing, and Sasuke knew exactly just what kind of need: the need for _his_ touch.

She didn't need to form a cursive sentence with those pursed lips of hers, for he was already leading her face up to meet his as Sasuke tilted his head and met her in an evanescent honey coated _kiss_ , that literarily swept the floor away from under Sakura's feet.

 _But this time, imponderability felt so blissful and free–falling into the taste of his lips, was soaring and got her straight to Paradise._

Anticipation built up inside her slowly, languidly as Sasuke let her enough room for her to reject his daring move if she wanted, but the moment she felt his warmth transpiring through his lips and fusing with her lips, Sakura lost the touch to reality.

That was the most elating feeling of all – the kiss of a Prince was the sweetest elixir.

Sakura didn't waste a _heartbeat_ to rejoin to his kiss. She dreamy parted her lips in a trembling need just enough for Sasuke's own to fit between them and he let her start a wishful rhythm between them. She was still a novice in the art of kissing a man, but everything came as a natural experience with Sasuke.

That was a kiss that brought together two clashing feelings –one`s immensurable gratitude for her dazzling savior and the other one`s relief that she was safe and back into his arms.

And the feelings that sparkled in millions of bubbles –encircling them in luminescent twinkles, akin to a veil of fireflies soaring between them– came undone from their ardent touch.

Their mouths were speaking the same language, and their hearts fought for a perfect harmony –one single _heartbeat_.

Sakura`s coy hands cupped the planes of Sasuke`s shoulders, digging the crescent moons of her fine nails into the leather fabric of his jacket, desperately crushing her evanescent self into his chest.

A hand encompassed the curb of her waistline, bringing her even closer to him, as their lips brushed against each other in sweet unhurried strokes.

It was timid and tender as a piano violin conjuring a soothing lullaby, but soon enough, it became impossible to resist a building bonfire that burst within them both.

Sasuke himself found it impossible to _just_ kiss her like she was a young girl experimenting with her first crush, playing with the first blossoms of a teenage romance, escaping in secret to a newfound intimacy away from their parents' watching eyes, and he took the lead.

The Vampire Prince let his left hand slant along the flute of her glass body and pressed the small bone of her lower back to get her even closer to him, while his right hand took a fist of her coral hair and silently beckoned her to let her head fall askew and follow his hand as he pressed his thin lips harder against hers, urging the rhythm of their kiss to increase.

Sakura moaned like an Egyptian cat mewling against her golden cushion, as she felt his resolute self-control loosen up to a wilder passion that he seemed to keep it hidden, gnawing on his lower lip like a newborn nourishing from its mother`s chest, enjoying the feel of his skin and the taste of his mouth, lush and heavenly sweet.

Their mouths molded against one another in absolute sync, as their lips grew thirstier and less elegant. A slick tongue swirled upon Sakura`s lower lip, probing and asking for the permission to reside into the hot cavern of her mouth.

Sakura eagerly dipped her lower lip down to give him full access, and Sasuke's sick organ swept against her own tongue twice, filling her mouth to the hilt, and venturing into an effervescent exploration, tasting her entirely and thirstily.

Sakura curled her hands around the column of his slender neck, as she balanced herself on her bare toes in order to try and conquer the barely existent distance between them, suddenly feeling that he was still not close enough to her, fisting her hands wildly into the ink jet spikes that stood against the gravity at the back of his nape, forcing him down to her and he easily complied to her, bowing his head more, towering and shadowing her petite form almost entirely and possessively.

His hands descended to skim along the outline of her spine, dancing over her sides, tickling her ribs and massaging her shoulder blades, lovingly, ardently, fondly, while his elfin tongue was spanning over the row of her pearl teeth sensually, massaging every inch of her mouth that fell within his range, ebbing her cherry taste into his mouth.

Their kiss challenged a new definition of passion as a feral thirst aroused into them both. Their lips became demanding, possessive as they tried to maintain an elegant rhythm. Two greedy mouths became sloppy and sexily wetter.

Trails of milky syrupy saliva glistened between their lips, as their mouths intertwined into a sensual dance, taking turns into licking along their mouths and dipping into each other's cavities and they were both soon fighting for dominance.

There was an unexplainable feeling that overcame Sakura's timid nature and lack of experience, in the form of a refusal to let Sasuke dominate their lip lock and win.

She couldn't explain the feelings that transpired between them, her senses were floating into imponderability, her mind was reeling into a drug induced state and all that she could think about was Sasuke and how to describe how amazingly tasty he felt like a man and Vampire.

But there were no words to phrase it. The feel of his lips kissing her in the way he did, the technique he used to skillfully roll and wind that wicked tongue of his in way indescribable into every corner of her mouth, gliding down her throat and expanding on the arcade of her mouth where that sensitive skin sent an ensemble of hot shivers along the pillar of her trembling spine, was simply too good to be true.

The emerald eyed young woman truly wanted to know how was it possible for a man to feel softer than cashmere, yet so firm and sculpted at the same time?

There was nothing in the world that Sakura ever tasted to start resembling the taste of Sasuke`s lips and tongue. His saliva was lukewarm and seeping into her mouth, glistening her lips and she wasn't sure whether that wet kiss was supposed to be unpleasant or not because it felt absolutely divine.

Sasuke was a cocktail between honey, cognac, velvet and dark mint chocolate and it was indescribable. She found herself sucking and nipping on his lips with a feral thirst that she didn't think it was possible to desire a man.

She had no control over her body or the moans that erupted from her chest, but their feverish mouths and their bold hands and occasional mewls and groans spoke enough for them to realize how much they were enjoying that kiss.

Sakura gasped for air pretty soon as she was still an uncut jewel, and Sasuke, clearly sensing her need to breathe briefly pulled back from her, just enough for her to drag in a large gulp of oxygen but they resumed their kiss with equal ardor, one heartbeat later.

Sakura was relishing in the way their chaste peck turned into that hot unruly French kiss but damn... if she would have a choice, she wished for him to never stop what he was doing.

Sasuke was literarily _killing_ her with the way his lips suckled and licked her own, curling around her tongue to trap her into a wet tango, and made their appendices fuse into his mouth as she wasted no time to penetrate his crevice as well and stroke it in a manner so sensual, that it turned her knees into strings of a vibrating guitar. She vaguely wondered if all the men could kiss like that, but she doubted it.

This Vampire was more than a man and that was definitely more than a kiss; they both felt it. Sasuke was telling her everything that he couldn't voice out loud with words alone, through their kiss. He was using his lips into another form of communication and she wanted to cry at how effervescent his relief sprung into his chest –that she was safe into his arms.

Sakura discovered how beautiful was to kiss. Such a simple caress of the lips was sufficient to set her entire body afloat; it was lighting the need inside and dictated the pace of her touches. Heavens, how bad she started to _desire_ him. Her moans slowly took a more erotic touch.

Her fingers lowered against the edge of his sculpted jawline, slowly, tentatively, in a curious fascination of a child pressing the keys of a Grand Piano for the first time, enchanted by the resonating soft tunes and harmonies.

Sasuke`s hand slid under her palm that was cupping his face, and wrapped around her wrist, thumb brushing against her pumping fine veins. He could feel how effervescent her pulse was; he could feel the frenetic pace of her heartbeat as she enjoyed their kiss –he could feel how much her body was naturally responding to him, wanting him.

Her entire being jittered and resonated with a melodious warmth arranged in a hymn; his presence beckoned her to come closer, to touch and feel, taste and desire, because this man , this Vampire, was someone that she had a _claim_ on.

The wind was playing through their clothes and hair, in a warm floral fragranced lullaby, making them look like an ethereal couple from the fairytales, floating on clouds. Their noses tickled occasionally brushing against each other when their faces switched sides.

When Sakura pulled back from him just enough to see each other's faces, Sasuke suppressed a small smile –an alien gesture that was hardly present o his dim expression, but he couldn't help himself around her.

With her plump cheeks blushing a virgin rubicund shade, the emerald eyed girl looked like the oil painting of a crown Princess; there was so much light entrapped into the luminescence of those aureate rings around her irises, shimmering malachite and gold, hazel of a thick fog of evident lust that turned Sasuke's unfocused stare into a contemplative gaze.

Oh Heavens, what she elicited inside him… So angelic and innocent, and yet so perfectly molding into the curve of his arms like clay in the hands of a sculptor.

She was meant to be with him, he felt that unadulterated calling and Sasuke knew that she felt it too, although she couldn't explain where it came from.

She will soon find out anyhow, for it wasn't something that the onyx eyed Uchiha could keep a secret for long; definitely not with his father _reacting_ so vehemently to the newfound threat and summoned the Council of Vampires, being so fervid into taking immediate countermeasures.

Sasuke let his forehead tap on her own, as Sakura`s hands slide along his neck, nuzzling into his arms. His hands were securely wrapped around her waist, whispering upon her lips as they both panted. "Do not daunt me like this again."

"I-I promise to be more careful. Sorry." Her heart shaped lips curved in a cute pout as Sakura mumbled to him, somehow ashamed by her moment of clumsiness, but for a moment, her inattentive state overlapped her fascination for nature's beauty.

Sakura was an astute woman and her intuition and fine sense for aesthetics developed along her inner beauty and the grace of her pure heart, so naturally she harbored a contemplative side with an inborn penchant for nature and arts.

"There are so many stars in the sky, tonight."

"Aa."

"They say that you should always reach for the stars because even if you do not make it to the sun, at least you will remain in the sky.

But there is such a long distance to reach the stars. So close yet so far out of reach, don't you think?" Sakura hummed serenely to him and, albeit she had no idea of why such musical words echoed from her lips, she couldn't help herself in his presence.

That moment seemed magical, familiar and heavily enchanting; it was all because she felt so safe and warm with him and so… _special._

"I think that people are wasting precious time in seeking absolute in utopias, when in reality they can achieve peace and supremacy of their existence here, in the earth."

"You mean… that we always tend to overlook what is within our reach, because we keep on running for things that we cannot have? This is humankind for you." She teased with a small side smirk.

"It applies for the Immortals as well. We embellish our perennial existence with untouchable, when we fail to see the simplicity and the beauty of living like we once did."

"What's wrong with living forever?" She still had difficulties in understanding Sasuke`s complex philosophy over life, and yet there she was, pulled into his filigree wisdom and profound sense for things that would go unnoticed by someone superficial. "People pray daily hoping to reach Heaven when time comes and find eternal happiness in the Afterlife."

"And yet," Even though Sakura was not aware that she was still blushing heavily from their incredible kiss, Sasuke was aware of her body language`s subtle messages, thus she hasn't removed her hands from tucking on his shoulders, and neither did Sasuke removed his hands from her waist. "They are afraid to die."

"Sasuke?" Sakura whispered to him, as if she didn't want to go higher than a breeze and shatter that comfortable atmosphere between them. "What would you do if you had one more day to live?" It was an incredible question for a creature that was forever denied the face of heaven. Sasuke couldn't help but mentally applaud her for how deep she was.

"I would try to be anything I can't now." He graced her with a honest response, while brushing his knuckles along the outline of her rosy cheek, lightly and lovingly, making her shudder. "feel whatever a human feels." Oh, how many lost emotions were denied to him, Sasuke inwardly laughed humorlessly – how did it feel to feel scared again, scream in exhilaration, being free to be himself and make mistakes, get crazy and happy without being judged by anyone.

Sakura made a cute pout, shrugging once as she fought against the pleasurable shivers that beckoned her to delight to his touch. "What stops you?" Such feelings were so common for people like Sakura who had no one and nothing, but a big heart and a penchant for discoveries and wonders.

Sasuke stunned her with a simple, yet such a tremendous concept. "Experience."

"What?" She cocked her head and teased him. "You mean you have become a pro at being _wild_?" In her haste, she hasn't depicted her innuendo, but Sasuke did and a smirk didn't fail to reach his kissable lips.

"It means I have lived enough to become immune, hence unable to react and feel." And by that, the Vampire Prince wasn't referring to an inability to nurture such sentiments, but to the fact that he needed _new_ ones to touch his heart and make it come to _life_ again. In order for his heart to actually _skip a beat_ and feel a _real heartbeat_ , he needed someone who could awaken those feelings inside his chest again.

And Sakura, in her vivacious character and bright aura could definitely elicit something _deeper_ and bring a new ray of light into his dim existence. And Sasuke wasn't denying himself of those potential feelings.

"This is because you run out of ideas." Sakura concluded as she unconsciously let her fingers play into his hair that stuck at his nape, soothing him in a way that only she could. "I might help you out let loose!"

Sasuke simply couldn't help himself. "Hn. I might come up with some ideas for you to help me _spice_ _up_ this stale existence." He tucked a hair around her erarshell and smirked in a sexy deviant way, as his husky voice went deeper and darker; she caught the sinful meaning of his line and bumped his chest playfully, making him smirk even more and it wasn't because of how her cheeks filled with roses as she blushed heavily, but because of how she let out a silent 'auch' when her mellow punch resulted in her injuring her own hand.

He was hard as a rock and hasn't even flinched at her smack.

"You know... the only way to get to know other things that the ones you are accustomed with, is to get down of your _throne_ and touch yourself. See the world for yourself."

Sakura didn't subtly emphasize the fact that Sasuke was living in his own nebula, without being interested in the others` problems; she has learned it by now that the Uchiha Vampire was deeply sensitive and interested in both his peers and humans` problems.

Problem was, he was that dark hero from the shadows, who only saw the _ugliest_ side of that existence and being forced to live an _eternity_ deprived of colors and laughters, was a frightening thing and Sasuke was an interesting person as both a man and a mystical creature.

It was such a shame for someone as versatile as him to indulge into leading a life of loneliness and be a simple observed.

A strong desire to pull him out of the clutches of darkness grew feral into Sakura. She couldn't explain it, but her body and her heart could clearly perceive it through every heartbeat: she started to look like someone who he has been waiting for a lifetime to stop that _pain_.

It was percolating on every inch of her skin, pleasured by his every caress, every kiss and every word – Sasuke was genuinely being graceful with her and it wasn't because of his need for his blood.

He has been honest to her from the very beginning when Sasuke made it known to her that the concept of 'match in Heaven' was not a romantic line in the Mortals` vocabulary, it meant more into the world of Immortals.

Sasuke confessed it to her that Sakura was someone very _special_ to him and he could feel it in her blood - the unmistakable taste of ambrosia, but in return, the emerald eyed woman too felt an unexplainable attraction to him. When she touched him, a radiating warmth enveloped her chest like a swarm of bumble bees.

"I like where this is going."

"You are making me embarrassed on purpose." Now that the adrenaline rush and the petrified dread of almost falling from the balcony, Sakura felt a wave of tiredness encompass her, so she naturally leaned into Sasuke`s chest, with her cheek resting on the crock of his neck, inhaling deeply once to feel the fragrance of his intoxicating scent.

Oh Heavens, how bad she loved the way this Vampire smelt, it was so unique, so indescribable and yet, so familiar and spicy – it was Heavenly delicious and very masculine.

"Good," Sasuke`s arms tightened around her frame, as Sakura scooped closer into his arms, folding her limbs around his neck, as the wind was getting colder and she wore such evanescent clothes. "Now I know that I am capable of making you _react_." He genuinely liked to tease this woman, but it was only because she was an astute interlocutor.

Sakura was deep, poetical and analytical and most likely, shed wasn't dipping into romance without a lifesaver and face the foster storm alone, floating helplessly and fighting windmills like any other superficial woman word do, no.

She wanted to know him before engaging herself into a fray of tumultuous feeling; ones that he could bring to her doorstep if she was willing to let him in.

He could depict the finesse of the mesmerizing woman that she was through her studied -yet very feminine and loving- touches and her warm inquisitive curious kisses.

Sakura let him taste her lips because she felt it was natural and rightful to listen to her heart' s binding, and not only because she was physically glued to him like the majority of the women.

Yes, Sakura found him physically attractive, like every single female -Vampire and human- but she had control and that was vital because it only proved that she won't turn her head and walk away from him in the direction of another pretty man.

She was striving to create durable strong bonds to last a lifetime... and probably even more, but she was finding it utopian to venture that far into the quintessence of a concept that she still couldn't grasp, but she wasn't entirely denying it either.

One couldn`t conquer Mount Olympus without the consent or the blessing of a God, and Sakura was rational and smart enough not to try it in vain and perish even before she had the chance to take her first step towards perfection and that meant his _world._

"Jerk." She mumbled as her weak insult came rather weak, being muffled by the way she nuzzled her nose into the hollow of his throat.

It would have been quite comical how she sought for every opportunity to smell his skin and kiss him, as any Mortal would find the taste and the fragrance of a Vampire absolutely delicious, but Sasuke had troubles in controlling his hormones.

Damn her, she was pressed so intimately into him being clad in clothes that only emphasized her softness and warmth and was puffing warm air along his sensitive skin, tantalizing him without even realizing it. That little vixen…

"It is not my fault that you react. It is highly addictive."

"Red wine is your only addiction." She giggled at him as she observed it that Sasuke truly adored that beverage, and surprisingly he chuckled at her. The reverberation of his baritone rumbling into his chest sent hot shivers along her limbs.

"That… among the other things with the same rich honey taste." She nearly moaned when a pair of moist lips latched to her ear shell, breathing boldly words that tightened like a knot into the pits of her belly.

Yes, Sakura realized it that their embrace became a ghost of a foreplay to something _more_ intimate than the kiss they shared, but she felt too good in his embrace to let it go. She could fall asleep into his arms in that standing position.

Oh Kami–sama, how she missed his presence while he was away, even if she barely met him three days ago and he only missed for a few hours.

"True," She decided to accept his challenge and throw the ball into his court, enjoying their playful confrontation. "But you know that such _delights_ are not perennial."

And by that, they both knew that she meant her blood, and consequently the life that Sasuke extracted from her with every drop he had. And it wasn't like Sakura was regretful for that, but it was interesting to see Sasuke's reaction to her nonchalant manner of evoking Death –like he knew that she will live despite him satiating from her very life.

Secretly, her heart almost missed a step when she thought of him truly having _feelings_ for someone as insignificant as her, because it made her soar and feel special –being special for someone was such an uplifting feeling, just as it was to be ardently desired by a man like him.

"Only life is limited." Sasuke let his hands slide up from the curve of her waist, to her shoulder blades, kneading her with his skilled fingers and making her warm, as she didn't seem to notice that her skin filled with goose bumps from the cool air around; or maybe it was pleasure starting to build up like a funnel`s steam inside her body, from his touch and presence. "But happiness is endless."

 _And love._

"Yeah, but so far," She averted her stare from him as she realized that Sasuke`s onyx ones were set down on her and nipped on her lower lip like she did whenever the topic was uncomfortable. "It has been way out of my reach." Just like a man like him was forever out of her grasp, but apparently, Destiny`s ways were intertwined and meandering in ways undefined and always so unpredictable.

"I wish I was empowered to show you another way," A graze of a light touch scintillated across her exquisite jaw, and tickling the jolly tresses of virgin coral in their ascension to her temple and she melted into the delicacy of his deep poetic lines and the elegance of his touch. "Sakura." Her name caressed by the roll of his tongue sent pleasurable tickles under her toes and fingertips, warming her like a cozy fireplace during a velvet December night.

Sakura fought the need to purr in delight at the invisible million electrical bolts that tingled across her skin whenever he made a ghost of a contact to her skin. "Y–You don't have t–to go that far to succeed."

She knew it from the moment that she has set her eyes on him, that if she was to stay by his side, she will be a goner, but when she has been allowed to catch a glimpse into his personality, her heart thumped in ways that it never did for someone.

Not falling in love with Uchiha Sasuke seemed impossible and Sakura didn't know if she should fight against that natural occurrence or not.

He might have his flaws, but his qualities were undeniable. Even though he portrayed the aura of intangibility, nobility, power, confidence, dominance and aloofness, being a man of few words and appeared to be rather cold in his interactions, very polite but detached and keeping anyone on a comfortable distance, he wasn't at all emotionally retarded.

Which was an astonishing contradiction because he was proving it to her that he knew how to be romantic and what he did and the _way_ he did it, felt so good!

But she knew that it was reserved for very special people and having the knowledge that she might be someone important to him… made her smile widely.

To feel needed… for someone to need her, and crave for her was something worth living for.

 _For a moment like this… just a moment…_

A feral turbulence was rippling through her system and Sakura's threat to touch his skin was growing lupine. There was an animalistic savage primal return to the raw savage nature's call, that Sasuke's Vampire aura radiated through her, summoning feelings within her that Sakura has never come in contact with.

It was appealing to the carnal pleasures that the woman inside her craved for in a natural, simplistic inborn way. It felt both apprehensive and supreme by excellence, and the woman with blossoms blooming along her long wavy locks wasn't certain whether she should fight them or explore the content of her heart.

She learned truths about Sasuke that lead her through the sinuous path of his mysterious intricate personality and Sakura found herself very attracted to his past as he wasn't afraid to stand up and be the ear to her that pure victims` callings of help, defying all the breathing Vampires around him, glorifying his beliefs to the point where he wasn't afraid of fighting with so much ardor to turn his castles in the sky into his aspirations.

The fact that Sasuke was more immersed into preserving his human traits, maneuvering them like powerful weapons, instead of damning them as a weakness that he should get cleansed off, did nothing to overshadow the fascination of his Vampire side.

On the contrary, the fact that he made it easier for her to relate to him and display a very casual and human demeanor, was giving Sakura enough room to get closer to his core as a Vampire.

Sasuke was excelling in terms of sublime, being perfect by nature, but as a human, he inherited flaws and insecurities and those were the ones that were very reminiscent of her own.

Sakura felt lonely -very lonely- and she unraveled the very same turbulence within the solitary casket of Sasuke's home and chest. It was easy to find a connection of pain with him because she couldn't rival the indescribable beauty of his vampire side in any way. Not as a human, that was.

When Sasuke revealed his fangs to her and his obsidian orbs metamorphosed into the color of the blood he ached for, he became someone that left her powerless in front of, and shattered the floor from under her feet, leaving her without support and lose balance along the way.

She was destined to fall for the epitome of dark desires and sensuality, all encrusted around his striking features, and Sakura knew all too well that her construction was bound to lust for him and attract her into a graphic sexual scenery and sizzle by the ablaze flames of his touch.

Vampires, in the people's perception, were unavoidably associated with sex, desire, sultry carnal passion, provocative glimpses and touches, succumbing dark fantasies, unspoken wanton and desirous ministrations and that were simply because their existence depended heavily on suckling blood and feeding on flesh, hence the lewd fetishes and stirring images.

So was Sasuke. He could send her every fiber into a jittering magnetizing tornado and possess her body without restraint because she didn't have any natural weapon or barrier to fight him.

So she was meant to give him what he wanted and that ineluctable power over her was indeed disheartening, but at the same time, Sakura had the chance, luck and pleasure to find a very level headed meaningful and caring Vampire Prince Sasuke, who was very laid back, mindful and rational into having pardon and stay neutral to her, respecting her modesty and refrain from infusing fear inside her and being rebarbative and primal, as the half-breeds and the more conservative vampires.

He wasn't trying to charm her and beguile her into sexually enticing her, no. He was always asking for permission to step into her crystal castle and his onyx eyes always sought for hers, looking apologetic, remorseful, and, at the same time, showing and assuring her that he was in _control_ of his sensed and demeanour and knew exactly what he was doing, and that granted her a safety like she never had before.

He even resorted to blood pills that she learned they weren't that effective and had nasty side effects, rather than drinking her blood and break their truce, even if she gladly agreed to let him bite her.

Sasuke fought with the Vampire inside him for that and, in return, he showed her a human side and kissed her and Sakura know that he hasn't used any spell on her.

She voluntarily -and eagerly- kissed him back, wanting it, seeking and desiring his lips, enjoying how their bodies yearned for each other, to mold, complete and find a single perfect harmony, reaching the stars.

It was a mystifying subpoena that Sakura hadn't submitted to any man before Sasuke. An unexplainable instrumental soft love song without verses was sussuring inside her chest and she realized that she had that sensation from the first moment she met him, from the very heartbeat she was trapped into his arms.

A compelling warmth of protectiveness, understanding, comfort and... something else without a name, but a more overwhelming resonance churned inside her chest, pleasantly, as she gazed deeply into the most secluded obsidian corners of his gleaming sapphire eyes.

Everything she felt when he was close to her, engulfed Sakura into such an intimate nocturnal oasis of silence of their hearts beating in unison, writing the lyrics of the same mysterious song, on the same blank sheet of paper, was epitomized into the aureate crown around her widened pupils, immixing with iridescent whimsical emerald, and Sasuke understand what was going through her heart.

She couldn't even explain it to her reasoning lucid mind, but that was because he wasn't human to begin with, consequently, she couldn't measure her feelings for him, by the standards of a mortal and figure it out all by herself.

She was freely falling for him, but what was more staggering than the rapid descending of the angel from Paradise to the Underworld carried by the carriage of dark desires and passion, was the fact that she wasn't objectifying his irresistibly hot image, but opting to nuzzle closer to the man he was underneath his family name and condition instead, and peel each layer to discover him as he really was, up to the most honest abysses of his persona.

"Hn." She flinched at the loss of his warmth across her skin as he let go of her inviting body and passed her by to step inside him home, but courtly held the door of the balcony open for her to stroll inside first, like a true gentleman. "Come. I do not want you to catch a cold."

* * *

She squirmed inside, not daring another peek at him, afraid that the sweating for her palms and the pounding of her sweltering heart will betray the need to close the distance between them once more.

Sasuke followed the phantom of her shadow with a side knowing smirk playing along the curve of his thin lips. He _so_ knew the things that formed explicitly inside her mind, reading her desires up to the darkest figments of passion, that lay dormant into the depths of her inner, without her being aware of them and oh… they all howled to _him_ to come and set her free from her own confinement; penetrate the limitations of her modesty and scorch her with the limbs of his own fire, until she became incandescent under _his_ touch alone.

Sasuke didn't hear the hinges of her bedroom door crack shut as Sakura headed straight to her room, but not having the grace of her nymph silhouette within the reach of his perusal, the Vampire Prince assumed that the rosette has snuck under the sheets of her bed, wordlessly, feeling too dispirited and dreadful by her moment of almost losing her life, to pay her goodnight to him, but Sasuke didn't hold her accountable for being so overwhelmed by the rush of events that he pampered her with, since they met three days ago.

So he shuffled to the privacy of his own chamber, and not bothered by illuminating the obscure space, finding the caress of the pale moon rays being sufficient to depict the door of his shower.

Sasuke padded straight to the inviting steam of his shower, his nose crunching in unmitigated repugnance at the pungent stench of cheap sluts perfume, the sweat, and the blood of the ones he had the displeasure to encounter that night, basking into the providence of the rinse of cool water spraying across the planes of his sheer glistening muscles.

He stepped outside only after he made sure that every single unpleasant mephitis has been washed away, rubbing the wet blades of his raven wet locks with a towel, wearing only a pair of comfortable black sweatpants; only… the Uchiha Vampire froze in place at the sight of a tiffany shadow spanning across the edge of his king sized bed.

"Why are you still awake?" The resonance of Sasuke's velvet baritone brought Sakura back from the apparent nervousness as she whirled hear head around to face him.

The aureate around the emerald rings of her irises stammered as she caught the sight of his breathtaking panoramic naked torso and she shivered in bliss at the mere figments of how his skin would feel under the caress of her digits.

A furious blush bedecked the arcades of her diaphanous face that was bathed in the mystical radiance of the moonlight, concealing half of the impure thoughts and embarrassment that was revealed across her crimson earlobes and tinted cheeks.

"Aren't you tired? I know for a fact that Ino has this quirk to be vivacious and exhausting." Dear kami-sama, that woman _never_ stopped talking and she was competing with the famous Uzumaki Naruto for the title of the most obstreperous member of their mismatched group.

If Sasuke was discontent with her sneaking into his abode, he was a real gentleman in elegantly hiding it from his kinetics and words.

And the perceptive Uchiha clearly didn't let her sudden wave of sadness that rippled through the polished crystal of her jadeite eyes slip past his circumspection, when Sakura pinched her lower lip with the tip of her canines and averted her gaze from him in a void attempt to conceal her feelings from him. "I was... I-I find it difficult to get used to a n-new home, that's all."

Maybe her weak statement would have harbored more credibility if her tone wouldn't have broken like a missed key from a piano song.

A weak comeback, she was aware.

What she hided from Sasuke was the fact that she felt very lonely. Without his presence in the home, she only felt a mild sense of security and comfort because of the luxuries that resided around her, being laid at her disposal, but Sakura was not materialistic.

And it was only when she found the gleam of the silvery moon to be so cold in the way it framed her silhouette and the empty place beside her bed, has the woman with an Orchard of cherry blossoms realized that she might have been missing Sasuke more than she was willing to admit.

She barely met him and yet, those tumultuous moments spent in his elegant company have made him indispensable for her to breathe or live.

There was this circumstantial sentiment that lied dormant into her chest that she and Sasuke had _more_ history together and their encounter wasn't just a flicker of a shooting star among the infinite galaxies orbits ring around.

She felt the unexplainable connection to him that transcended the physical laws and sways to the other side of spiritual. Like Sasuke was someone familiar to her and not just an insanely sexy Vampire with a touching back story and a cultivation that left any woman breathless.

This sizzling impulse to touch his skin and kiss his lips flamed of an ardent passion that Sakura barely controlled and she realized that it was not just sheer lust and physical attraction.

"Ahm… Sasuke," She started edgily on what she will say next. "I–I know that this will sound i–indecent and b–bold, but," Oh great, her start couldn't have been more explicit. "c–can I – eh – just for this once…" She has never addressed a man such a request and definitely not to someone who had pulverized the archetypes of masculine beauty and elegance.

Her eyes cast down and her fingers were fidgeting as she stood up, sliding from his mattress that made no ripple under her form, akin to how an eidolon would pass unnoticed as smoke.

Sasuke behold her stammering beauty, like a lion observing a cornered lamb. Seeing that unspoken words waft between her unmoving lips, Sasuke decided not to prolong the girl's obvious embarrassment and spoke beyond a tremor of a bass guitar.

"You desire to sleep here, in my room." Sasuke finished for her. Sakura was yet to utter a word. She did not, only kept her stare weak and obedient, like averting from his rejection.

Sasuke was not in the bit oblivious and his intuition was fully developed, just like his brain quickly rammed through the shelves of his implacable memory and reminisced about the fidgeting nightmares that Sakura had, when he watched her fight against it.

When he almost… _no_ , he blew that maleficent smoke off his memory, because every single slice of his body, beckoned him not to harm her. But Sasuke knew that this girl, who was not meeting his intense stare, sought for protection and comfort; maybe even more ardently than the wish she has thrown to him amidst the overwhelming spur of the moment of their encounter.

And in that moment, _he_ was the only one who could provide that warmth for her. Only him. Keeping all of the excessive buoyant gestures for himself, including an explicit smirk, Sasuke traipsed to the girl, discarding the wet towel aimlessly on the armchair and came to stand right in front of her, like a specter chasing for the timid _light._

"Is this what you endeavor to ask, Sakura?" He stopped right in front of her, towering the girl and let her get dizzy of his freshly showered delicious form, shadowing her. "Do you want to find the peace of your slumber in my bed?"

She nodded once weakly, almost unnoticeable and Sakura thanked all the heavens for Sasuke's reverence for not turning the lights on and confront her about this audacity to step into his private room, without being invited.

What kind of woman would he think she was? Her cheeks filled with red roses in the pattern of an explicit blush, but she has been honest with him. His home felt like a solitary dessert without his presence there and the loneliness was pressing hard against her chest; with only a merciless silence drapping her into its clutches, she could hear the resonance of her own demons ricocheting back to her and she was… _scared._

But with Sasuke around, just like the first time that her eardrums have been caressed by the sickness of his concerned voice and when he magically made them float from the giant wheel back to the Amusement Park, Sakura felt untouchable; like nothing could go wrong and nobody could harm her if he was around.

"What about _my_ presence?" He simply couldn't help herself, though Sasuke was aware that it wasn't just the comfort of his chamber the thing that Sakura was looking for.

She came there seeking for something that she never knew the taste of – security and serenity. Which only meant that she was yenning for him, but he wanted no… needed and craved to hear it from the girl herself. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

Oh god, the inflection of his contralto voice fluttered like a phantom against her face as he dropped it to a level that was heavily erotic and exquisite and honestly, the golden bars of the cage in her chest melted as her heart soared from its confinement and leaped into her throat, thumping madly and leaving her breathless.

How could he be so sinfully irresistible and be so elegant in assuming something so heavily intimate?

She nodded fervently thrice, suddenly jolting from the bed as she couldn't remain curled into a ball in front of his tall form, but found it to be a clumsy move because she hasn't calculated how close they were standing like that. "D–Do you… mind?" She stammered timidly, like a schoolgirl.

"Do not waver in being more comfortable around me," Sasuke was apprising her to be more insouciant in his presence, and yet all that she could think of was how downright deep the crevice between them was, seeing it how incredibly sophisticated he was in everything that he did, just like a Crown Prince should be. "If you desire to be here, then you are welcomed to stay here anytime."

Tenderly almost affectionately, Sasuke`s hand spanned across the flute of her wrist, as his fingertips brushed the back of her palm and her breath hitched midway into her lungs when he twined their fingers together, squeezing her hand lightly and gently pressed her down to lean against the softness of his bed linen.

The sensuality of his loving touch spewed against her skin like reflections of nirvana, as the flute within her heart hummed a crystal lullaby and she got enchanted by everything going that Sasuke embodied –from the elegant Vampire Prince, to the personification of amour and protection.

Maybe it laid in the twinkles of electrical jolts that coursed her skin from the breezy contact, or perhaps it was enshrined into the depths of their interlaced stares, as Sakura dared to take a peek into his riveting black sapphire eyes, but, for an outlandish reason, she has found that simple action of his heavily _intimate_ and loving; every of his gesture resembled the intimations of a _lover_ , but yet… she couldn't help but fell captive to his ministrations.

Her emerald orbs remained attached to his limber form as Sasuke encircled the bed and tucked on the sheets of his side of the bed, sliding into them.

Reluctantly and almost shakily, she did the same. The feeling of another body pressing on the other side of the bed she was residing into, was strange but not in an unpleasant way.

She hoped that Sasuke wouldn't perceive the tremors of her hands through the cover they both shared, but she still couldn't comprehend how deeply his eyes could penetrate. Nothing, not even the most insidious gesture could escape those eyes, especially when Sasuke was heavily _interested_ into the kinesics of the owner.

"I hope that my blasé choice of attire is not offending you in anyway, Sakura." He smirked in a way that she couldn't decipher, but it made the tuft of nerves into her belly tie in a dizzying knot. "But a Vampire`s body heat rises a few degrees during the nighttime when we are supposedly more _active_." What he meant by that, Sakura could only guess as Sasuke let it trail mysteriously and somehow… mischievously. "And since you are here, I cannot use the air conditioning up to a chilling level and have you get cold and sick in the morning." He gave her a side smirk and she couldn't help but smile in apologize to him.

She didn't know that her presence there will make it all the most difficult for him and only felt sorry for her imprudence, but the look in his eyes, so deep like meadows of ink saturating the depths of his irises, made her swallow those words and never voice them out.

The way he gazed at her like she was something that he has… _waited_ for, for so long until they found the missing mortise, was leaving her breathless.

And surely enough Sasuke shouldn't have reminded her of that particular _detail_ because now, those waves of heat started to descend along her spine and limbs and indecent thoughts amassed into his mind, as Sakura tried to brush them off quickly and regain her composure.

The gorgeous Vampire Prince was half naked and freshly showered, so not only she had to keep a leash around her stare that was begging her to allow it a quick perusal, but she could smell that intoxicating scent of his shampoo and his own peculiar scent of nature's elements combined, trailing along the alabaster skin and protruding from the crests of his hard muscles. Heavens, she will burst like a torch by the deeply sensual images that fit into the context.

"Sasuke?" She started as she let her locks sprawl across the pillow ad mattress, tucking on the lush bed sheet and fisting her hands above her heart, facing the wall. "Today… Ino has confessed more things about Vampires and the other _Clans_ and ordeal that reside in the shadow and she has also let me know about your group`s affiliation."

She started on an awkward tone, but she couldn't stop herself. The rosette had to know, even if her curiosity might chase her away from there and might trigger another episode like the previous one when she approached the topic of his former fiancé.

Sasuke said nothing, but a shift of her emerald orbs on her left side where Sasuke has aligned her lithe form with the mattress, assured her that he was listening to her, because his onyx orbs flickered from the half –opened window to her form.

He was also lounging casually on his back, with his right hand curled under his nape and the other one dangling on his abdomen. He most likely anticipated the future rambling of the obstreperous Yamanaka and yet… he didn't stop the two of them to hang together, meaning that he was willing to let her in more.

She went on, nipping on her lower lip and choosing to look at the moon behind him and its fading rays that seeped past the fluttering thin curtains, in a lulling dance. "And so I have found out about… what you did back then, for that… lady and how you stood up against what you considered to be an i-injustition."

She glanced back at him, as Sasuke once again remained absolutely silent and motionless, but his raven eyebrows laced together in a slight frown. She suddenly grew afraid that he would eschews from the awkward conversation, but she collected her courage and went on, seeing that he didn't snarl at her to let the topic drop.

"This is not exactly something that we the Vampires would want to divulge if we want to keep appearing excellent in front of your eyes."

"She didn't let me know about it to impress me, on the contrary," She felt a pang of revolt by his answer. "she did it because she wanted us to bond more. You knew it from the start that Ino will share more of your secrets to me, and yet… you let the two of us spend some time together and talk between… girls."

"I am not vexed by the fact that she narrated you the way we have earned the title of _Lambda_ , Sakura," Curiously, his tone was casually and lacked edginess or sharpness as he spoke, but Sakura could already sense an upcoming awkward situation. "it is just that I do not wish for you to see so many veneers of my brethren`s blood thirst inklings." The fear in their innocent eyes was nourishing his disdain and repulsiveness for his brethren and family.

The mere figment of Sakura being in the same predicament as the purple haired innocent woman once was, with virgin eyes which were mirroring human's ineptitude to oppose them, as they were forfeiting in front of their fears, was making Sasuke hate on the gift of immortality and making it ricochet back as the ultimate curse.

"you… also being _human_ , just like Konan was back then."

"It seems to me that underneath the considerate talk which I don't doubt that it is sincere," She leaned forward a bit to make up his onyx eyes, resting on her elbow. "you don't see too impressed with your own performance. You don't possibly… regret it now, do you?"

For a moment, she didn't miss the hard stare that whirled into his onyx eyes, blitzing like a storm and gleaming silver-ink jet.

The atmosphere around charged and thickened and even though his body emitted and engulfing radiance that invited her to bask in that bliss, she felt cold shivers run along her spine.

Her mouth will be the death of her.

But due to his own word, Sasuke kept his temper on a leash and refrained from being excessive in gestures and language in front of her and scare her. Instead, he looked guarded and slightly tense like the topic wasn't to his liking, but he didn't stop her from asking either.

She looked more interesting about him as a _man_ than his utopic world and the reign of Vampires. "I regret," She almost flinched when those two laconic words rolled out of his mouth, but then she relaxed. "not being _more_ vehement in stating my opposition.

Being young and inexperienced might not always be such a gift… of obliviousness. I should have been wiser and more tactful."

And maybe this way he could have changed the Uchiha –especially his father`s point of view– and gain more adepts.

"It never dwelled on me until now that even you, a Vampire who is an embodiment of perfection by definition, would be so self-critique, Sasuke." Sakura found that absolutely interesting about him.

Sasuke pulverized any archetypes of Vampires and she now understands how lamentable the stories with Vampires were and how shallow. "But I think that you are being too harsh with yourself. You are the voice of ration among the other new generation of Vampires and had the courage to stand up and fight, even before your own family. And I think that this is impressive."

Something into her eyes… the filigree smiles that she harbored for him… Sasuke couldn't place it but her words were soothing and pampering like silk brushing soft skin –so naïve and oblivious, yet so profound, intelligent and beautiful.

"The world you live in Sakura," He graced her with a panoramic side smirk that stole her breath away. "Is so arcadian." Meaning that her thinking was shielding her in a protective bubble and her always so the depths of beauty and rejected grotesque. "It is almost unfair for you to be living in this… nightmare."

' _I wish you would let me do something to change it for you, Sakura.'_ His unspoken words came undone in his irresistible gaze; one so full of emotion that it caught Sakura with her guard down, never expecting to see such a look into a man, especially not when it was reserved solely for her. Had she blinked, she would have missed it but luckily, with a deep halt of her breath, she didn't miss it.

But then again, that idyllic manner of thinking was a courtesy to her undeniable innocence. "A tiffany flower," It was irresistible not to outstretch a hand to her face, gazing at the enthralling mixture of lights and shadows, all ripples of the mystique moon framing the porcelain and ivory of her visage, and touch her cheek delicately, with the paws of his fingertips.

"So pure and so suave," Millions of pleasurable trembles prickled across the opaline veneer of Sakura`s soft skin, courtesy to Sasuke`s cashmere words and enigmatic soft touches.

She fought the urge to purr into his caress and nuzzle her nose into his warm palm, but emerald-aureate orbs wouldn't obey her to drop the veil and peel her gaze from his obsidian eyes. "shall never be left to wither alone… and dolorous."

"Are _you_ happy, Sasuke?" She couldn't help but ask. "I have asked you to make me happy but the question is," Suddenly, Sakura found herself _concerned_ about him and she didn't know exactly why. "Can one who has not found his own felicity, be able to give it to another one?"

Her eyes entombed more emotions than her words, he kept caressing her cheek delicately, yet it seemed more of an instinctual gesture, because his eyes were boring into her very soul.

"Can you give me something that you don't have to yourself?" The look in his eyes erased everything around them in the span of a nanosecond. Oh Kami, his orbs scintillated like sapphires in the light of a candle`s flicker and it was beautiful beyond words.

"I cannot erase your past. But I am more than delighted to attempt to heal your wounds, Sakura. The future is for you to paint in every color." With Sakura, Sasuke envisioned himself having that sort of unadulterated natural _love_ , where every touch would be the epiphany and an exploration of his own desires and sensuality.

Rediscover the beauty of simple yet tender meaningful touches, stolen kisses placed upon her neck, shoulder or cheeks, find the epitome of intimacy into the sweetness of a vivacious intertwining of their fingers, or her head resting on his chest, or in the valley of his shoulder blades, where she would breathe in his scent and he would listen attentively to the rhythm of her heartbeat.

Listen to the spellbound of her call and the language that her body talked, and interpret the need to suave gestures and delicate soft words whispered into her ears, as he would hold her dearly in his arms, carrying her through a night with endless fairytale dreams and unspoken romance.

See less, feel more and explore the untouched with his fingertips. Eyes were a mirror to what the heart was seeing and every **heartbeat** was the **real emotion** that lips could convey, because mouths and tongues had but one major drawback –they were biased by the filter of the brain. But the heart was honest.

And Sakura`s ticking clock, was objective and endearing. She was so amazingly debonair and beautiful and unfortunately, so oblivious to her own worth.

A melancholic resigned smile graced her features as she whispered to him words that made his hand stop travelling along her face for a moment. "I don't have that much to live to remember?"

"But you could have." Maybe his answer has been too rapid, but Sasuke couldn't help himself. If she wished to live, then… she will live.

And if Sakura would indeed nurture feelings for him then Sasuke will happily grant her the gift of Immortality; because having her by his side forever, will turn his endless life into a blessing –live an eternity with her.

Due to her wisdom, Sakura understood the implication of his words. Sasuke could turn her into a Vampire and make her live forever, of course, at the price of being _his_ bride forever; be forever bounded to him.

"I don't want to steal a place that is not mine and replace someone _else_ in your mind." And by that, Sakura was referring to his former fiancé. If by any chance, Sasuke saw in her someone that once left him, then Sakura felt deeply insulted.

But her all fibers screamed at her that Sasuke wasn't so adamant in having her by his side, because he missed a woman that left him decades ago. He was not hypocrite.

"I don't want you to be anyone's shadow."

Sasuke understood the source of her distress but so far, his gestures have never given her a reason to be distressed; this is the reason why he didn't like to bring his former lover into discussion. "Maybe I too want to rewind... collect the shattered pieces from the way and build something else... more powerful… durable… stable… and endearing."

It was outré for Sasuke himself to talk to her in such lyrical ways and Sakura herself understood that he was out of his usual pragmatic self here, but it was the only 'weapon' he had to gain her trust –make her see his honesty.

She gulped at his intense stare and the implication of his words. Would he be courageous enough to accept eternity give up Imortality in lieu of love? Was he talking about… her?

Falling in love with Uchiha Sasuke was…

"You do not have to think about embodying the mirage of another woman, Sakura." He slipped a finger under her chin and beckoned her to look into his eyes. "Maybe… there is a place reserved solely for you, as it was written before the day that we have been born."

Like the grace of knowing that you belong to _me_!

"Why?" The emeralds into her lucent orbs moistened with tremors of luscious tears and an endeavor to cry at his words and the powerful look into his obsidian eyes overwhelmed her like a newfound emotion. "Why did _she_ …"

The same words that prickled on the tip of her tongue slick out of her mouth, even before she could stop herself, but after she has been impaled with the fragment of Sasuke's hectic past, Sakura could not stop herself from inquiring.

"left…? Why did she stray away from someone like you?" For a man who waltzed along the idyllic mirror of grace and sensuality, like Sasuke. Why would someone want to run away from him and leave him behind?

His peculiar laconic demeanor embodied his reticence of approaching the depths of the topic, and the manner of averting his stare from her, gazing somewhere behind her like entrapped into another time and the brisk brush of his fingers through the tuffs of lacquer spikes made Sakura`s words curl into a tight ball down her throat, almost regretful for asking him such a thing.

He surprised her with a gush of velvet words, rolling in a cryptically response after some agonizing moments of sheer silence. "I was ready to die for her but she wasn't prone to live forever with me. Love was not… the _supreme_ sacrifice for love. She wasn't able to dedicate herself a hundred percent"

The meaning behind his words have registered into her mind; even though he had a way with words that might come as Shakespearean, Sakura got the meaning of his words –that woman who was a mortal, was afraid to live forever.

In another words, his former fiancé had the same hesitance as her own, but judging from Sasuke`s words, she hasn't ventured into philosophic analyzes of the concept of Immortality. Because unlike that woman, Sakura found herself more curious than afraid about the concept of living forever.

"You are such an enigmatic man, Sasuke. I would have never thought of you as the type to value love so much. You have a sensible side, don't you?"

She truly hasn't encountered such a man and Sakura wasn't thinking of his Vampire side, but to how profound Sasuke really was. She knew for a fact that men were greedier with words about feelings than women in general, but a real man wasn't afraid to talk about love.

And Sasuke was definitely one of them and hearing those words only drowned her more into his charms. It was fascinating how everything that Sasuke did and the way he acted, didn't effeminize him in the bit on the contrary, he was even more tempting and masculine.

"Are you trying to spot my _human_ weaknesses?" Sasuke gave her a teasing smirk.

She smartly came with a strong comeback which only made his half of a smile stretch. "You told me to never feel ashamed of my human flaws."

"You misinterpret it. I haven't said _flaw_." Sasuke wasn't a man or a Vampire in denial of the flaws he had; arrogance was not chieftain of his character, just as Sasuke wasn't a Vampire indulging into the complacency of emblazoning with pompous and chauvinistic unrealistic metaphors about his powers and immortal condition.

No, he was a realistic mild modest and pragmatic man, who was trying to pick on the strongest traits of his character and not allow flaws to blind the truth about his potency and skill.

"I don't mind it, in fact, I am glad that you are willing to cling to your existence as a mortal because it is easier for me to relate to you."

"What is the supreme feeling for you, Sakura?"

"Liberation." She answered without any second thoughts.

"Is this why you seek death? This is the easiest way."

"It's not the easiest way per se, but it is the most accessible to someone like me." What Sasuke liked in her hesitation was how slowly but surely, Sakura started to comprehend how stupid she was in so carelessly approaching the topic of death; she started to get a glimpse of how valuable her life was.

Of course, she was being nonchalant about it by foolishly thinking that she was of no value for anyone, and living without a purpose in life or leading a lonely existence without anyone to acknowledge her was similar to being invisible or already dead, so naturally a question arouse in her human mind –what was the purpose of carrying on like that?

And there comes Sasuke, a creature who was thorn from the page of folklore and tempting myths, a Vampire who looked at her, acknowledged her presence and told her how beautiful she was, making her shy away from her own resolve.

"There are other ways to free yourself Sakura."

"Riding a motorcycle, in leather shoes and your hair blowing in the wind?" She pointed to his choice of attire for a midnight escapade and it was her choice to smile tauntingly to him. Well… she wouldn't mind seeing Sasuke dressed like a rebel college student from time to time because… he looked sexy as Hell!

That _gothic/rock_ appearance was very fitting to all the stories with Vampires and nourished any woman`s wet fantasies about forbidden love; even Sakura`s.

"That could be a way."

"Do you think that... love can set someone free, Sasuke?"

"I did pursue that dream at some point of life but the decision is not entirely depending on me." Because unfortunately, one`s happiness depends on the feelings of another, just like his former beloved was not entirely enchanted by the prospect of living forever with him, but then again, he failed to see the reticence in her eyes when they were together, indulging in activities that were part of his existence –like her repulsiveness against him drinking from her blood, unlike Sakura who seemed to truly enjoy it.

"I wouldn`t know. I have never fallen for anyone." She askew her gaze in embarrassment, albeit she knew she shouldn't be so flushed since it was just obvious that she hasn't been with a man before. "but if it is that amazing as everyone says, I don't think I would have a problem in living forever beside yer one I love." She felt Sasuke instantly flex his stance and grow stiff, as if he didn't expect her sudden burst.

She felt a tight knot constrict her throat and the rose haired woman gulped once awkwardly, thinking that she has uttered something that she shouldn't have had; what she failed to notice was the fact that Sasuke wasn't infuriated by her statement, on the contrary he never expected her to be so forward in reading his mind.

Just imagining her being willing of the supreme sacrifice in the name of love, was making Sasuke feel something that he hasn't in a while: hopeful.

Was Sakura really capable of diving into a love without boundaries, no matter the price, with the man she would fall in love with?

"I-I'm sorry," Her tingling voice turned him back into the reality of his dim lighted abode, as she seemed to have misunderstood his silence for an indignant feeling. "I didn't mean to–"

"–do you mean it?"

"What?"

"Being willing to exchange mortality for _love_?"

"If it helps me get free then… _yes_. I know you think the low of me because I tend to be suicidal, but I don't actually want to give up living. I mean, deep inside no suicidal person wants to die Sasuke. I have done my research. Did you know that ones who wish to hang themselves have a moment when they kick the chair from under their feet, foolishly thinking that they will save themselves, which is exactly the reason why they die and no one is there to free them and catch the rope for them? I believe that love might be the stretched hand to catch the rope and save me."

Because no one ever loved her not even her foster family or the real parents that abandoned her.

"I am sorry for raising my voice and snapping at you." Sasuke whispered to her after gazing into her emerald orbs for a moment, during which they both went silent, digesting what they have just been talking about. 'I don't want you to be afraid of me. I will never hurt you the way you think,"

A skillful hand was combing her hair backwards, latching through her ivory–rose veil of wavy threads, cupping her temple. " and see the scared look into your eyes..."

He brushed off a lock of her eyes and she melted into his touch. Why was she feeling that uncanny quivering of her heart whenever she was being in his presence?

There was a bitterness that made her stomach flutter and gets queasy whenever she was in his presence, which she couldn't pinpoint. There were an easiness waltzing into the silver crown gleaming around his irises which was making her heart wobble and her mind get dizzy.

Sakura instinctively half shut her jade orbs and leaned into the touch of his palm.

"I know you didn't mean it because you run after me to apologize." Was he still feeling regretful for the way he snarled at her then, or was Sasuke referring to his earlier mistrust?

It was so difficult for Sakura to form a cohesive explanation when she got dizzy with pleasure from his caress alone. He was brushing her pink locks with his palm, lovingly and tenderly in a way that only a lover would do. "I am not used to... have friends. Maybe my inquisitive state can hurt the others."

Sakura stated honestly, as her hand coiled around his wrist, brushing her thumb across his crescent moon tattoo.

Seeing that Sasuke was willing to answer to her questions, she found her courage again. "How was she?"

He knew that she wanted to know about his fiancé, though he couldn't comprehend her insistence, but he promised not to get wrathful again, so he sighed once and racked a hand through his midnight hair, seeking for the best way to show her that he wasn't thinking of another woman when he was with her. "So unlike you."

So it meant that he would never like her? Why did she care if he didn't?

"You mean less annoying, intrusive, blabbermouth, poor and ugly–"

"Superficial." Sasuke pressed his index finger on her lips, silencing her from being so critique over her own merits. Her hand slide along his forearm, brushing over his elbow but his touch was too inviting for her to retract her hand; and Sasuke made it clear that he didn't mind her touching him.

Then she did something very unexpected –she started to giggle heartedly at his response.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because even though you are immortal, you seem to have run out of time like me, Sasuke."

"The two of us shed similar fates Sakura."

"Why is that?"

"You are alone." She abruptly stopped laughing when she saw the intense look in his onyx eyes. It knocked the wind out of her lungs; the magnitude of his peek bore into her, piercing her and making her lose herself into the silvery–sapphire maze around his irises.

Whenever he reminded her that she had no one, her sadness and sorrow came ricocheting right back to her in turbulent winds and she wished he didn't remind her of that, but he was right –she was so alone in that world.

But so was he and that knowledge brought her an unexpected wave of comfort; not only was Sasuke someone who knew exactly what it was like to be deprived of intimacy and love for so long, but he looked at her in a way that made her question whether they weren't… fated to be together.

"Sasuke? You haven't rescued me just because you needed my blood have you?"

With an indecipherable expression on his handsome face, he responded vehemently. "No." There was no need for him to lie to her even though there were things that were better to remain concealed for now.

"Then why? You don't see me as a prostitute because clearly, you can have _any_ woman you want who is definitely more stunning and from a good family, so what was your reason?"

"I was intrigued about why would you want to do it." He started casually. "Because unlike the others, you looked Death straight into its eyes and mocked it, instead of fearing it. Someone who doesn't fear death..."

"...will not fear to live forever." Once again she astonished him with how easy it was for Sakura to find logic in his words. "Is this what you mean?"

Somehow, she was glad that she could talk to him so easily about what was troubling her and Sasuke never judged her. He, just like her, was trying to understand her motives, without being too intrusive in her privacy.

And he was definitely more elegant than her bold approach but then again, he had experience and education.

"I don't know."

"By making me happy, you hope that I will put an end to your loneliness, is that right?"

"Would you do it if _I_ asked you to?'

"How do you plan on teaching me the real meaning of life, just like you promised?"

"I follow no plan. Happiness is spontaneous and unpredictable. People make plans because they deny unpredictability, but, in reality, they make it out of fear. Because they don't trust their intuition and innate reaction in front of the unexpected and I only promised to try and bring felicity into your life. I am trying to show you the another way." An alternative to being depressed and flirt with the idea of giving up life.

"What about my blood? Why do you say you cannot stop drinking from my blood?" It was not the fact that she was disgusted by the concept. To Sakura it was no big deal, but she was curious about the real implication and the connection formed between a Vampire and a mortal who shared her blood with him.

"You are different." Sasuke simply told her.

"What do you mean by different? It is not that I will take back my word. I am just curious."

"You and I have the aptitude to form a stronger and a deeper bond if we are both willing." Sasuke was positive that he could fall in love with this girl for her beauty and wisdom but could she truly fall in love with someone like him?

Love him for who he was and not only for the way he looked like, for the money and the social status?

"Stronger link? Do you mean... romance? We aren't that cliché type of predestinated couple dancing in the limbs of destiny, are we?"

"I mean that we are free to choose, but nothing is enforced on us, not even Fate can interfere. Destiny means that we have been entrusted with a possibility to partake in a certain possible outcome as if God has given us a direction. But no one stops us from pursuing another path that we deem right. Who am I to make a decision in your place?"

"What if ...by any coincidence... I would... let's say," Sakura tucked a pink strand behind her ear shell, feeling extremely thankful that it was dark inside so she could conceal her heavy blush. She couldn't believe it that she was… well half confessing to a guy!

She has never been asked about her feelings over a man before and it was such a tingling experience. "have... _feelings_ for you?"

"Do you have them?" Sasuke asked her softly, as if he was afraid that he will make her back away from the spontaneous confession. "Feelings for me that is."

"Well, it is easy to fall for someone as perfect as you won't you agree?" She felt warm like a cozy December lullaby, pulled into the embrace of a chatoyant stellar nocturne sky and metamorphosed in the jittery bell laughter of a choir of angels, descending from the Elysium whenever she was in his presence, but it was prematurely to talk about _love_ yet, when they barely met.

There was a mysterious aura of nobility and kindness enveloping Sasuke in a mantel of sensuality, masculinity and untouchable swell of grace, which was fascinating and appealing her to decipher his character.

She has witnessed his outburst when they had the sinful conversation –argue- about his former lover and Sakura has come to realize that there was much more secluded underneath the veil of his unrivaled self-control and tranquility.

Sasuke was a sparkling bubbling golden bottle of Champagne, ready to burst and fill the aperture of her mouth with honey liquor, yet the side effect of getting drunk in lust and lose control over her senses, still lingered.

Sasuke was a double-edged sword, he was an unparalleled enigma, and the fact that he belonged to the realm of darkness and immortality, was adding to the mystification of his person, but it was also a silent mesmerizing invitation and a challenge to unravel the side extreme personalities of his.

That calloused intense fierceness and the possessiveness to protect the intimacy of his feelings, when she transgressed the thin boundary of friendship and tried to discover more secrets about him, allowed Sakura to take a peek into the maze of intricate emotions that churned inside the Vampire`s soul.

As much as Sasuke was playing finesse and delicacy with the mastery of a gifted pianist caressing the keys of a piano and enrapturing the audience with his spellbinding harmonies, walking on the swell of elegance, refinement, and eloquence, there was also a darker counterpart of his unreachable incredible flawless facade, lurking from the catacombs of his demonic side, waiting to strike and she has come to see the stupefying terrific alter ego of his when he almost lost his cool.

The emerald-eyed woman would never have imagined the fact that such an extraordinary sizzling gorgeous gentleman, could have been so fierce, so full of remorse and disdain and radiate so many negative vibrations.

There has been a volcanic burst scintillating into his indomitable black sapphire eyes, as if they were never polished nor discovered, scaring her to the point where any ambition that she might have to dip into the ocean of death, has frozen inside the depths of her mind and the innate instinct to survive and save herself has been a countermeasure to the potential _danger_ he has represented.

But of course, Sakura came to fully understand that particular thing about Sasuke, namely he was struggling and fighting against the hurricane of his nature as a Vampire, in order to overcome all that he has branded as flaws and disadvantages that tangled along the floor of immortality, such as his need for blood and the realization that he could strike like a swift Python and pulverize the human kind, with a small fling of his eyes or fingers.

He had self-restraint, his morals were keeping the wild demonic Vampire side of his entombed in steel and kept in a comatose state, within the safeguard of his collected logical mind and he was hardly a chauvinistic egocentric arrogant man. As far as she came to know him, Sakura realized that Sasuke was stoic and cold, but respectful.

"I am a man full of flaws Sakura." Sasuke didn't hide that from her, but she could see that he would have liked to overcome them. "More than you could count."

The Vampire Prince was fully aware of his inability to pierce into the soul of the ones who were important to him and be more easygoing in his interactions, but it was his Uchiha nature preventing him from displaying his emotions entirely and open up more.

This was one of the mistakes that he did more than once during his existence up until now – he hasn't paid attention to the others` feelings more and if he wished to become a liaison to peace between Mortals and Vampires one day, then Sasuke understood that this drawback of his stoic nature must be overthrown.

"You are a Vampire and I get that. But… you have called yourself a _man_." And it didn't slip past Sakura`s astute vigilance that Sasuke rarely referred to him as a member of the creatures of the night. "Why is that?"

"Don't you think I am one?" Sasuke on the other hand decided to taunt this beautiful woman a little bit more and her reaction was immediate. For a brisk of a moment, Sakura averted her emerald orbs from his amused onyx ones and tried to conceal a slight blush, understanding his insinuation.

Instead, she tried to play the offended lady and enclosed her fingers into a ghost of a punch and hit his chest playfully, pouting to the sexy smirking Vampire. "Stop trying to make me embarrassed. I don't know how to respond to this... to _this_!" Ah, c`mon, she sounded like a little girl with a little crush here.

Sakura mentally slapped herself from muttering and blushing like an idiot. Yes, Sasuke might be delicious looking, the place of his chest where she attempted to land a hit on him might be hard as steel and carved like a Roman Deity statue and yes, those playful smirks and luscious orbs that shone silvery in the moon might be droolicious but… she was a smart woman who was supposed to be more composed.

 _Well, it was easier said than done,_ especially when the said fine specimen of a gorgeous Vampire was half naked and she was in his bed... and he was touching her from time to time in ways that stirred very naughty dark thoughts inside her mind, engulfing her body–

Sasuke interrupted her train of thoughts seeing that the girl was mumbling something that he couldn't decipher, seeming to have an inner argument with her conscience and he could only guess about what exactly. "How about you stop trying to find a logic in everything and allow yourself the privilege of feeling _more_?"

Sakura couldn't help but roll her emerald orbs at him, snorting in an unladylike way at his response. "I heard this cliché more than I can count." She faked a dreamy sight and recited like a famous Orator. "Live your life to its fullest, listen to your heart talking, don't focus on the problems and be happy. It's just a myth." Her mocking features grew hard and serious.

"Every myth has a substance. Isn't this the same with us the Vampires?" Sasuke smartly threw the ball back into her court. He couldn't comprehend how such a young beautiful smart woman could be so dense and pessimistic.

"There is no logic in our existence and yet we continue to live. There is no logic in being happy, yet it is a sentiment that rules this world." Even someone like Sasuke, who hasn't found real felicity, could tell that happiness was supreme.

"I thought that _love_ was the supreme feeling. Can you be sad and in love at the same time?"

"Your inquiry only proves that you are mistaken and contradicting yourself my dear. Happiness is probably the supreme feeling and love is the safest way to reach it."

"It is so odd to hear a man talking about love in such philosophic terms." And Sakura understood that Sasuke was talking from his vast education and not exactly from experience, but then again, he lived more than her and came to learn things from various personalities in history, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing because she could also learn many things from him that were inaccessible to her peers, Mortals.

"But somehow... I have the feeling that you are trying to hide your inner poetic self, Sasuke. This is not a strange thing if it is you the one I am thinking about. I like the way you talk and I am fascinated about your eloquence and your ideas. Is this strange? Because… I mean it as a compliment."

What the heck was she talking about? Sakura couldn't help but wonder whether, in her state of dizziness caused by this magnetizing Vampire and the way she could easily open up to him and blabber for hours about pretty much anything, she truly made any sense.

Sasuke was courteous enough to not bluntly tell her that she was nuts and the way he was absorbing any word that slipped past her lips and looked like he was truly debating what to answer, let her know that he was listening to her.

But then again, he must be a patient man since he befriended creatures like Yamanaka or Naruto Uzumaki because God… those people never stopped talking gibberish. Never!

"Has anyone ever stolen your heart before, Sakura?"

"Heh… like any man would try to approach me." She shrugged indifferently, but Sasuke could depict the bitter tone in Sakura`s voice. "Be serious, they would not even get close to a dirty bum like me, let alone try to know me enough to make me fall in love with them."

There were hot guys back there in high school but it wasn't like they would look like someone unimportant like the orphan rosette and, even though she wasn't exactly ugly –in fact, Sakura was very pretty and had delicate features– her social status was the subject of all the mockeries, along with the nerds of the school.

If she was to be honest, Sakura only had one nerd who went as far as to almost mutter a weak confession to her, but it was just because they were among the ones to be outcasts and paired for different school projects, being hardworking and smart. But that was all that was to it.

"Just because humans are superficial and highly materialistic," Sasuke on the other hand couldn't be more grateful that Sakura remained untouched and unpolished in this field, because this way, it gave him a chance to show her – _truly_ show her– how it was to be with a _man_ and not with some pubescent teenager who barely grew some tuffs of a beard and considered himself a macho among the other machos. "doesn't mean you are _not_ valuable and besides," The onyx eyed Prince reached for her face and combed some coral locks that fell along Sakura`s shoulders backwards, as his knuckles grazed her temple.

Sakura unconsciously felt lulled into slumber by his warm touch alone. It was almost unbelievable for her how amazingly delicate this Vampire could be. "what if I told you that you that your history is way more _intriguing_ than you might believe?"

"If I-I am not the only daughter of the President or a f-famous rock star t-then I don't want to hear it." The rose haired girl half joked and half stuttered, since it was very difficult to focus on talking when Sasuke`s warmth and the silkiness of his voice was reverberating through her body, like a swarm of butterflies.

A brief chuckle made his rich voice sound ten times darker and Sakura couldn't help but laugh along. Sasuke was so easy to talk to and she couldn't believe how incredible it was to find herself conversing to a stranger –and a Vampire nonetheless– in a way that made it look like they have known each other for centuries. "You don't have to act like this in my presence just because we have a promise… a contract." Sakura had to make sure that Sasuke wasn't simply an insanely skilled actor.

"No need to be out of character. I know you don't actually fancy to be so... sweet." It wasn't like Sakura knew about what a man would like or not, but she had enough common sense to realize that one didn't have to change for pleasing her. "At least, you are not like this in the society."

Of course that Sakura would rapidly figure it out that he was being very attentive to her, and this is his exact intention –to show her that he was honest in his approach and his touches were as genuine as his words.

"You don't force me to act differently, Sakura. I am not the heartless cold bastard that anyone brands me." That _Fugaku_ wanted him to be, despite his deceiving attitude. "The icicle ruthless ruler that my father wants to shape me will never be part of my alter ego. It is easy to tell this to you." He dropped that hand that was brushing over her cheek and rammed a hand through his midnight locks, breathing. "You understand..."

She knew exactly what words lingered on the lips that never voiced them:

Loneliness.

It was the worst feeling of all, because it was similar to being a living dead –trapped between two worlds.

Sakura looked deeply into his eyes and she could clearly read that about Sasuke. Those obsidian sapphires were the portrait of a pair of orbs that conjured the same solitude as hers, maybe even deeper.

She could even taste it on her lips and it was painful, freezing and soul piercing, even if Sasuke wasn't whining or complaining about it, keeping it all to himself and taking all that heavy mantle of anguish and melancholy in his bed, during the nights –lonely nights.

He might be surrounded by amazing friends, but at the end of the day, it was only him, his lonely room and the moon above; all alone.

Just like Sakura.

Maybe that was purposely the reason why he refused to indulge in that peculiar human need of sleeping, in favor of guarding the night`s serenity and seek solace from the equally loneliness along the stars and the bright moon.

Sasuke wasn't an antisocial man who pursued isolation, deciding to run away from contact, warmth and ultimately love. But according to from Ino and Hinata's memoirs of him, their Vampire Prince has only opted to withdraw from his family's creeds, chasing his own version of reverie, according to his solid Weltanschauung, and whether they were all approachable and realizable or mere sweet castles in the sky, it didn't matter to Sasuke, for he assumed to take the role of a Leader and be the opposing voice.

Consequently, isolation was something that cling to his shadow along the heavy path and Sasuke hasn't indulged into walking past the suave feelings, unflappable if they stumbled his way.

He was hurt, but in a way that commented to syphoning him with the false chimerical feelings of guilt and self-blaming for not being able to preserve the love of his former fiancé, but Sakura knew better, because, suicidal or not, she was still a mortal and her human side retaliated with that mysterious woman who she has never met.

Sasuke wasn't a competitor to her choice to be gone as she has come into that world -a human- but simply one of the two choices she got, and that woman has picked to die as a mortal and be granted a place into Paradise.

Maybe her religious beliefs were being stronger, or maybe her love has swayed along the way and made her apprehensive in front of eternity, or maybe she reach the conclusion that Sasuke deserved something better, or probably she didn't even supported the idea of eternal love –taking boredom and complacency into account– or maybe she felt used as a mortal –was she granted Sasuke the privilege of having her blood, like Sakura did– or maybe... Ino was right.

She couldn't be on the same page with him and take the chance to live a perilous life, fighting with the ruler of the Vampires –his own father– and give up the privilege of being the Vampire Princess and ultimately, a _Queen._

Sakura wasn't stupid and she grasped the secluded interpretation of Ino`s concerns and suppositions. People were beings who naturally sought for wealth, power, and domination.

It was ingrained in their construction, the way their instincts were built and they preserved that trait and passed it to their successors, so what if Sasuke's future bride might have only desired his wealth, his family name and the title of the future Queen, using him, while lusting for his good looks, totally ignoring the vulnerability of his nature as a _man_ and not necessarily as a Vampire?

What if she wasn't interested in or able to pinpoint the sensibility of both the traits that constructed Sasuke as human and a Vampire? Did Sasuke himself came to realize all that? Sakura was flirting with a more romantic and conservatory fictitious amaranthine love.

Even if she never found it, she never doubted that it existed. If she was to fall in love with a man, Sakura was positive that she could love that certain him deeply and immutably, for as long as their souls existed and even _beyond_ that.

And even if Sasuke had the potential traits to be a total player, giving his attitude, gorgeous look, and money, Sakura knew from the wistful, nostalgic and forlorn tone used when reminiscing about his former spouse, that his lover would be a sacrosanct and iconic image for him, a woman to love and desire wild blue yonder.

She could easily see it displayed into his unfathomable black sapphire eyes while he looked at her in a way that melted the glimpses of ice within her heart and made her chest jitter in emotion that Sasuke was trying to reach to someone who understood him –all of him– and accept the fact that he was someone who tried to be happy in a way he deemed right.

Someone who won't change and won't stop ever wanting him, just like he could vow to respond in his own manner to her feelings, the best he could grasp and express them –someone to accept him unconditionally and never try to change him.

From the soft way, he touched her, the way his lips kissed hers, to the manner he wasn't hesitant in breathing soft sweet romantic words to her, Sasuke was a real man and a gentleman.

He knew exactly how to balance the image he presented to the others, be it friends, family, strangers, to the one he preserved for intimacy –a woman. The naturally and spontaneity of his grace or power was fabulous and irresistible.

There were countless men –Sakura was certain that Vampires as well– who strived to be so versatile, but they could never be so smooth and excel in every aspect, like Sasuke skillfully did and even his manner of speaking was dexterous and multifaceted, but the Uchiha Prince was also ingenious to all of the them, be it her or his friends.

He didn't have a choice either. For the other Vampires to follow him, Sasuke had to be trustworthy and sincere, otherwise the world he envisioned would never come to see the daylight.

Sakura would soon find out that Sasuke was hopelessly blunt by nature, despite his scholastic constitution and education helped him refine vocabulary and be more artful, but it was still black or white with him. He wasn't a wanderer in the gray zone.

"You know Sasuke, if you keep talking like, that I might truly fall for you on day, you know?" In her rather playful blabber, Sakura didn't realize it until when Sasuke kept silent and his hand on her hair froze, what she has just said.

"Oh God, now I sound like a total loser and a major creep. I am sorry, I keep on abusing your kindness with my stupid rambling… but damn. Sorry. It is just like you said, this is so crazy but... I feel like I have known you from a long time ago and... it is so easy to talk to you since you seem willing to listen to what I have to say..."

Since no one ever listened to Sakura or has been mindful to her needs, up until Sasuke found her and she fructified any moment she got in his presence, finding it to be an amazing thing to have someone to confess to.

"You are allowed to be whoever you want, Sakura. Just don't talk about suicide again." No, Sasuke will _never_ allow this beautiful young woman to attempt something so stupid as long as he will still exist in this world. Hell might freeze before someone takes her away from him, be it the Grim Reaper itself.

"I promise you that I will not." Sakura solemnly pressed a hand above her heart and vowed heartedly. She sizzled with the need to remind him that it was him the one to kill her slowly with being so damn irresistible, but Sakura depicted it in Sasuke`s beautiful eyes that he was thinking the same as her and was washed away by guilt. There was something she had to do to stop it and make it up to him.

"I feel something deep down in my chest Sasuke," She tucked on the vaporous material of her chemise, where her heart was thumping madly, barely containing a large number of convoluted feelings that she felt in that moment in the nest of her chest and decided to be honest to Sasuke, just as he was sincere with her.

"and it's something that I have never felt before. What should I do if I feel something that I don't have a name for but it overwhelms me and… I need to let it _free_? Something akin to how I felt when we filed?"

Supreme liberation… Sasuke almost broke into a real smile because what Sakura was describing, that was real happiness. Poor thing, she already had it ingrained into her heart and all that it lacked, was nourishment for it to grow and bloom into the most beautiful flower.

It was the hunch he needed to make sure that indeed, the handsome Vampire Prince will be able to give her what she wanted and even more: a reason to **smile** for; something to make the rosette soar to untouched universes of felicity, bliss, content, comfort and ultimately passion.

It wasn't like Sakura didn't _know_ how to be happy. Every person had the concept of happiness as a gift of the soul, granted as a blessing from Heavens to the mortals, but the flicker of it was dainty and it had to be carefully nurtured, touched gently and lovingly.

People didn't need to learn how to be happy because that was their inheritance from their ancestors but… what they needed for it to manifest in all its blissful plenitude, was nourishment and the nourishment that sustained the flicker of happiness… was love.

It wasn't happiness the thing that Sakura was missing, but love. Of course, she hasn't realized it so far, but Sasuke did. So her question needed a small change of the concept, because what Sakura should have asked of him was not to _'make me happy'_ , but ' _love me'_.

"If your heart wishes for deliverance, then let it go." Indolently, his hand slide along the curve of her swan neck, barely touching her skin as he traced chaotic lines along her pulse and the two mounds of her collarbone, like burning her outline into the depths of his memory.

"Set yourself free, Sakura." His inflection descending on the scale of baritone sensually and darkly and it was sheer enrapture for Sakura`s skin; she unconsciously shivered slightly at the resonance of his attitude and words.

As if her body knew the steps of the waltz that Sasuke`s music was evoking even before her mind could decipher its meaning, Sakura`s gaze opened up to openly skim the silhouette of this gorgeous profound man, trying to interpret every shadow that fell on his handsome body and sketch every delineate every sculptured muscle. Her breaths came in staccato puffs when she allowed herself a deep perusal.

His nimber muscles framed the contour of his body akin to an iron armor, cupping his slender shoulders in sharp mounds of carved fibers and wrapping his long arms in delineations of sumptuous biceps, reflecting a vibrant power and the mouth-watering beauty; carved deliciously divine in the form of a Roman deity emblazoned with the paramount of virility and strength, rippling and oozing of sheer pursuance and vigor, Sasuke`s bare torso seemed like the mirage of the most erotic fantasy. He was superb.

Polished jadeite orbs were luminous like the effulgent dust of a shimmering cut diamond as they were spewing in pure adulation along the outlines of his muscular torso, but her gaze alone bore more than chemical lust for his incandescent masculinity.

A timid palm reached for the planes of Sasuke`s sculpted fibers, coming to an insecure halt between their close chests, as her impatient small fingers arching towards him like begging to be left to wander at the content of their fervor along his luscious skin and that almost had Sasuke smirk.

Sakura wanted to touch him, but she was too shy to materialize her figment into intimate caresses. She resembled a majestic butterfly which has just spread it's polished wings towards the velvet horizon learning how to fly for the first time after being set free from its cocoon; she was a precious pearl whose beauty lied dormant within the nest of a shell, on the bottom of the ocean, begging to be discovered by someone special and turned into a precious piece of jewelry and Sasuke was more than thrilled to be _her_ jeweler and _refine_ her.

With a touching that challenged the nimbleness of a dove's feather, Sasuke slid his thumb under her soft palm, enfolded his lithe fingers around her hand sensing how scared she was through her dainty trembles, and gently guided their intertwined hands to his chest, letting her fingertips tap on his skin, just above his heart and he only let her go when her palm pressed against his body more daring, allowing his rich raven eyelashes to fall in a graceful velvet curtain upon his blizzard onyx eyes to relish in the feeling of her delicate warmth against his skin.

Sakura`s virtue and modesty laced with the radiance of her feminine kinetics in an angelic combination and for a moment, Sasuke wished to encrust their moments into a gemstone and capture their beauty into eternity.

No other touch resembled Sakura's finesse and her refinement and not to mention her innocence. A virtue that was so rare to find in girls nowadays.

The crests of her graceful fingertips traipsed across every outline of his sculpted pectorals, and her breaths came in irregular puffs emerging from her parted lips as she felt his slender fibers flex under her unconversant touch.

Princess like digits fondling the diamond hard peaks of his alabaster skin in unshed fascination turned Sasuke`s composed senses into an undone hurricane of sensations. He felt his own self-control started to drift and sway away from the peculiar indifference.

The obsidian eyed Vampire`s own inhales got a sudden spike up upon the meandering skim along his uncle upper body and for a moment, he found himself yenning for Sakura to confront her deepest desires for feeling him as a _man_ under the curves of her nymph body, and _give in_ to the caress of lust and need and arch over the rivers of his ardent touches and kisses, moaning in unadulterated pleasure.

It was almost torturous how bad Sasuke wanted to make love to this woman in ways that he never did before. If only she would let him make her his… if only she felt that she belonged to this stranger even before she was born into this world, Sakura would realize that her very normal reticence towards a man that she has just met was unjustified into this context.

Oh, how he wished for so little, yet for so much.

Something sparked again between them, just like earlier into the balcony and Sakura could limn it too from the charged fragranced air that whirled in electric bolts around their shoulders.

A short gaze into each other`s eyes was enough to beckon Sakura to shift her body closer to Sasuke, studying his face. He was so handsome, so sexy, so rebel and his beauty was raw and untouched as if nature has kept its most masterful piece of jewelry hidden and preserved the ineffable of pure beauty entrapped in time.

"Then… I-If I would w-want to… k _-kiss_ you again… without it to mean a-anything t-than a simple… Would you let me?" Sakura nipped on her lower rosy petal that suddenly felt dry and thirsty waiting for Sasuke to say something but instead he kept silent.

When Sakura felt a muscular arm wind low around the curve of her waist, she momentarily froze.

His obsidian eyes were lustrous and polished. For an entire agonizing minute he said nothing to her as if he sought for any fragment of reticence and mockery in his own emerald diamonds, but then he squeezed her waist gently once as she sunk further into his chest, bringing their bodies even closer and brushing against each other.

"Yes."

 _He let her?_! Sakura actually had to take the initiative and kiss him again but she couldn't help it; it felt so _good_ to kiss this Vampire, that she wanted to do that again… and again. It was like a drug; his lips were sweet and felt like honey and red wine.

As if sensing her reticence, Sasuke beckoned her in the ultimate erotic inflection of his chocolate wind baritone –one that elicited tremors of sheer pleasure along the pillar of her column– to go for it. "Simply act upon your heart`s call.

This is one of the few moments when you are permitted to be wild and listen to your instincts instead of your brain or morality." Sasuke slipped a finger under her chin, leaning slightly forward, shifting and coming closer to her, but stopping until their noses tips brushed against one another.

A heartbeat away from her lips.

Sakura got tingles on her forearms and face, pushing her to wipe away that inexistent distance between them and kiss Sasuke.

Something in Sakura's chest tickled and soared when she gazed at the stunning Vampire in another way than she normally did… more intimate, sensual. She couldn't limn that emotion, for it was not something that was habitual or familiar.

But if she was to depict it into words, then it would be like a once torn red rose blooming to life to its full majestic radiance. It felt _amazing_ , whatever that emotion was.

Her eyes locked to his sapphire ones and she felt washed by a meteor shower all along her spine and limbs.

How could something supposed to be lifeless, be so warm and so tender like his radiating warmth oozing off his alabaster skin? The human side resided in every heartbeat and she felt it now sound and clear. A luminous nimble was flickering timidly somewhere underneath the Immortality's veneering.

She had to touch him. She simply couldn't stop herself.

Sakura`s quivering palm sprinkled wide open to rest upon his chiseled chest, just above his heart, warm, gentle and fascinated.

His skin felt soft, tempting her with the encrusted lithe muscles, every arch of his climber fibers was tantalizing, beautiful, the sharp edges, the elegant contours of his bones, his frame bore the majestic imprint of the sharp rocky peaks of the mountains, splendid and imposing, yet undeniably fabulous and enthralling.

"You are warm." She breathed tenderly to him. The Uchiha`s radiance oozed of sheer strength, tickling her palm of a hotness like a funnel.

His eyelashes lowered and swept with a thin layer of cloud; her touch was even more magnetizing that she praised his touch for. He placed his left hand atop of hers, brushing the curvy crests of her knuckles with a brisk brush.

"There is a soul that resides in everything. Even inanimate things. The line between mortality and Immortality is slim, almost imponderable and imperceptive to the untrained eye," His hand slowly slide along her own bare hand, slowly, tenderly like tendrils of wine vines.

She shivered at the contact. It was like he was sprinkling red roses on her skin. Sasuke`s digits reached for her face and grazed along her cheek. "like a _mirage_."

He told her before –that death is not equivalent to Immortality. Once death, it means the absence of life. But Immortality meant perpetual of life, so death was just a pawn –a path to access and unlock Immortality.

Once a Vampire, the soul would metamorphose in its perfect form. The paramount of one's existence abided by living forever; _truly_ living instead of being a walking lifeless corpse.

Just like Eternity was _not_ the negation of time, but its epitome. The _absolution_ of passing time meant for it to never end, or ever stop flowing. Negation meant absence, yet there were infinite moments into the span of Eternity. The fact that no one knew of its ending didn't mean that it wasnt real. So Sasuke himself as a Vampire had a _soul._

Sakura found her mind reeling in confusion trying to sum up the information she colected so far about Vampires.

All the myths about the immortals being elegant were supeflue. She left out a melodic giggle when his fingertips tickled her neck softly and tilted her head to enclasp his palm between her bony shoulder and chin.

A ghost of a smile found shelter across his thin lips. Everything about this emerald eyed young Mortal was so effervescent, sizzling and poetic, she was stunning; a phantom that he almost trembled in fear not to go like a sweet dream with the first rays of the morning 's sun.

Her palm slid lowers across the planes of Sasuke`s mesmerizing body, to graze the sculptured relief of his abdomen.

A bubbling boiling sensation stirred into her belly and her mouth felt thirsty and suddenly _dry_. She felt his muscles flex briefly under her touch and he had no idea of where her audacity to touch him like that came from but she couldn't help it; his subtle gestures were encouraging her to feel him up _more_.

Sakura didn't even realize that both of them scooped closer to one another like seeking for further contact. Her breath became laborious and her entire body became alert and high alive, it was _electric._ His knuckles were brushing her jaw softly grazing her silk skin, as the tip of his fingertips diffused into her cherry blossom tresses. Sasuke absolutely loved the color and the silky texture of her hair.

The resemblance with a bride's veil fluttering behind her back, following the graceful motion of her body when she moved, and framing the contour of her shoulders and back, was delicate by nature; the light color of the sinful red was melted into a sweeter version of virgin pink.

Sakura was absolutely _stunning_ and her innocence was staggering. It was almost laughable that Sasuke found himself facing one of the greatest challenges of all, namely to keep his hands _down_ from pinning her to his bed and show her what feeling _alive_ and on _fire_ truly meant, but he had to restrain himself and abstinence from drinking the very soul of her because he would rather die again for good that to disrespect this woman.

His beauty was stylized in such a magnificent masculine way Sakura noticed; Sasuke`s handsome looks was only doubled by the grace and eloquence of his education. This was a pleasant tangible thing for Sakura to cling on when anchoring to his enigmatic life: a Prince with the same aura of royalty, education and refinement always stayed a noble, be it human or Vampire.

She suddenly felt propelled into a Fairytale world, where she was left to cease the beauty of the beautiful Prince and it was as she was being returned the dreams she lost as an orphan child, who has been denied dreams.

Sasuke was making her float in imponderability; he treated her like a Princess –like his Princess and true to his word, he was trying.

Well... Sakura will never admit it out loud because she suspected that underneath his polished veneer, one huge ego was residing, but Sakura wasn't a man who needed to sweat or break a nail in order to make a woman feel _special._

Albeit, she will not blame him for it, because who _wouldn't_ be proud and aloof in his place when having his unmatched set of qualities?

It was such a wonderful feeling to be treated like that –like she was someone very _important_ ; to be looked at in such a loving way and feel the protection of someone who cared; she became addicted to that concept in an instant.

Sasuke`s closeness and the anticipation to basket into the incredible intimacy that his presence aroused felt incredible; her heart has never thumped so fervently, so intense and her skin never trembled in anticipation.

If only he could play the music that her body was creating... Sasuke looked like someone who already knew the right notes, and he only had to play it with his fingertips –touching _her like she_ _ardently_ _yearned_ _for him to do so._

One breath away… one last heartbeat thumping in anticipation and one caress of her hand along the planes of his ripped stomach and Sakura found herself arching her neck leaning towards his gorgeous face, until the tip of her nose brushed his cheek and she opened her mouth just enough to take his lower lip in between his own and gently suckle on it once.

She found herself trapped into a tumultuous fight with the storm within her mind and the queasy flutter of the butterflies swarming fervently into the pits of her chest.

And when Sasuke enclasped her lips with his own, moving in stroll with her, massaging her lips with his own, softly suavely she couldn't help but breath through their kiss and it came as a soft moan rippling on Sasuke's mouth.

Soft lips that doesn't speak can still convey messages tongues can intertwine like music in a dance of memories and speak like millions of ideas that a kiss can convey, whatever words cannot comprise; what mouths cannot depict; desire that burns into the souls but expressions and confessions fail to murmur from those lips but she read them so intently.

Communication... talking to a man of such few words must mean that he was more practical and action–oriented. Sasuke was no poet, yet his mysterious atmosphere was lyrical and graceful, almost melodic, just like his attitude, language, wisdom and elegance.

Sasuke felt even softer than the first time or the second time, based on their previous experiences, he simply parted his own lips and allowed her to set a comfortable rhythm between them – or rather conjured all his willpower not to slip his tongue inside her mouth and kiss her savagely– tasting the need on her lips, as Sakura was still an unsmoothed diamond.

Those pastel pink lips were like quivering pearls of dewdrops nipping on his own ever so gently and soft like cherry blossom petals; her luscious taste was lush and sweet and so addictive.

She smelled like a spring floral garden and a heavy feminine white lilies scent travelled to Sasuke`s nostrils, making his senses jitter with the grace of her affable perfume.

Immediately, the Uchiha Vampire slipped his fingers into her coral rose hair, while his thumb was brushing her temple as his lips played with her own, intertwining their mouths together and inviting her to dance on their nocturnal tango, leading her to euphoria.

The tip of his tongue was rolling along the curve of her lower lip sensually, tasting her without forcing its way inside her cavern, keeping their kiss to a chaste lip lock.

But every drop of lucidity spilled like a broken pearl necklace that rolled along the floor when Sakura pressed herself more into him until she almost straddled his lap and tilted her head on the side to deepen their kiss.

Well damn…

So much for a chaste kiss.

Sasuke happily opened up his mouth more to allow her to slide her slick tongue inside and she responded in an instant.

He took a fist of her coral hair as she brushed past his moist lips and ventured as far as she could physically go, massaging his own tongue and rolling over his set of Vampire teeth that were almost unnoticeably in size since he wasn't in for drinking blood and Sasuke suppressed a smirk.

He _so_ knew that she wished to have a taste of him and it was just obvious in the way she basically suppressed the massaging of her lips on his own and let her tongue arch and span against his pearl dentition, searching for _that_ fascinating Vampire threats; or maybe it was just the effervescent desire veiling the obvious lust the one to urge her to breath a broken moan into his mouth and make his own throat tremble of her feminine sound.

That was definitely part of his concept of _erotic_. It turned out that Sakura had more surprises up her sleeve than she let it show; it was only that she didn't know how to express them –yet– but the bubbling _flame of passion_ was present and ardent within her.

Oh, Sasuke couldn't wait to be the ignition of that flame and make her _burn_ until she will scream his name…

Meanwhile, Sakura had troubles in keeping whatever composure she had left, but somehow… the strings of her body belonged to someone more else that played her like a harp; she had no control over what she was doing and there was only one single thing that made sense into her mind, namely she _had_ to take _more_ of this man, of this Vampire.

Everything about Sasuke was explosive and elemental in terms of passion, sensuality and taste; he smelt and tasted like Fire and Paradise combined and it was maddening! This wasn't a kiss of relief because she was safe; this wasn't a lip lock of soothing and comfort because she felt afraid, no.

This was a kiss that had the oasis in pure _wanting_ and _pleasure._ She was kissing Sasuke because she _desired_ him and his lips.

 _Sakura_ knew that she shouldn't be so possessive with his mouth and her rather aggressive clumsy way of claiming his lips might seemed desperate and disarray, but she couldnt help the thirst for his lips as if he was the quintessence of the rain, whose sole purpose was to tame down the fire within her, or on the contrary, the Uchiha Prince played as the spark to lighten up her body like a touch.

Sasuke was a duality of opposing forces that Sakura found admirable and fascinating; his touch had the power to both soothe her and make her sizzle like a dormant volcano aroused from its slumber and ready to erupt; he was sheer passion incarnated.

Vaguely she registered that Sasuke has swept his tongue across the outer contour of her diaphanous mouth, licking her lips slowly, sensually, applying a mild pressure that sent jolts of pleasure down her spine and ending into the pits of her lower abdomen, leading her and inviting her to open up to that newfound intimacy and taste him at the content of her heart. And she did just as so.

Timidly, tentatively, almost clumsily but having the typical effervescent curiosity of a baby eager to touch the wonders enfolding around his small world, eager to explore and learn through his small palms and mouth, Sakura tamed her feverous moves and fell in an electric sync with him.

What she really enjoyed in their few kisses that she and Sasuke shared so far, was his technique. Sakura had no idea about how would he normally kiss a woman –she also didn't want to have that acknowledged because her chest would clasp painfully– but with her, he was unhurried, slow and tender, while at the same time, very deep.

Sasuke was nowhere near chaste and cautious as if afraid that she would step back and reject him, no, on the contrary, he still managed to be extremely passionate and hypnotizing.

The pressure of his moist lips was heavy and domineering, almost possessive; his kiss was full, and deep, like inviting her to explore him fully without no boundaries and nothing to hide.

And Sakura learned something about his way of kissing through those few kisses that they shared so far –the Vampire Prince preferred to lose himself into a passionate kiss, rather than a hungry one and it represented everything that he was –graceful, precise, elegant, dominating, profound and very sensual.

His thin lips were wide open, very masculine sketched in a sensual shape of an almond almost the same as his eyes, tasting her in deep ample strokes, praying her own mouth wide open with the tip of his playful tongue.

Sakura fell prey to the enthralling sensation; she nipped on his lips and suckled on them, cocking her head occasionally so as to find the best angle to reach him deeper, his mouths felt hot and sweet as an oasis of honey and vanilla.

There was a subtle infusion of dark chocolate and velvet cognac into his honey taste that left Sakura benumbed to the exterior, but her senses were high alert set on the feelings that he aroused within her.

She would have never guessed that kissing a man would feel so _good_ ; Sasuke was so delicious and his taste magnificent. He was such a contradiction in everything –for such a powerful man and a Prince among his kins, a creature blessed with the gift of Immortality– his taste was incredibly hot and very syrupy.

He set a rhythm inside her that made her soar with desire and suddenly just feeling his lips didn't feel enough. She found herself craving for more of him. Sakura was naturally not a seductress but she couldn't help the way her fingertips drummed across his elegant jaw, leaving the marble skin behind as she slides to the sides of his neck and grouped her hands across his collarbones and further to the planes of his chest, palms tickling by the warm feeling that the nature of his hot body comprised.

A low rich growl rippling through their kiss from Sasuke`s throat left her reeling in pleasure. His hands slide down from her hair that he was stroking, to skim along the curve of her sides and her shoulder blades, pulling her flush into his chest. His touch alone was more tempting than Nirvana.

She got lost into his arms as her own fingers were traipsing along every inch of his sculpted torso, occasionally intertwining into his raven hair.

Sasuke absolutely enjoyed the taste of her lips, they were succulent, rich and sweet, popping like black juicy cherries under his nipping as he was suckling on them, while the tip of his tongue rippled under her soft petals, tasting the moist luscious skin, akin to sipping from a glass of sparkling rich champagne and get blissfully drunk.

The fact that Sakura wasn't educated and polished but she wasn't afraid to dive into the abyss of desire so freely and with abandonment, was making the experience more intimate and meaningful.

She was happily inviting him to lead her elegantly as he was initiating her into the art of kissing him. It wasn't just about the act of locking his lips with a woman the impulse that made the rhythm of his heart rate sway, for he has been sharing many meaningless fugitive kisses before with various partners the thing that conjured his inner beast to the light.

It was Sakura's own unique imprint the one that Sasuke craved for. She added an innocent insightful touch to their kiss and Sasuke absolutely _loved_ it.

It was that alternation between a soft kiss which felt like a timid brush over his skin, delicate just like her very core was, it lacked any sexual underneath substance and resembled a rather cute peck of a child, and the newfound sexiness that she conjured now the things that almost made him go feral.

Sasuke clearly enjoyed that kind of kiss just as much as Sakura did. She was definitely bolder and more passionate, but still managed to be gentle. Amazingly how she did that.

The Vampire Prince had to politely stifle a smirk when he cocked his head and sucked her tongue into his own mouth in a way that he hasn't done before to her, and the unexpected wave of electric shivers surging along her spine made Sakura flinch.

But she managed not to break their kiss because Sasuke had his left hand pressing on her nape and the other one curled around her waist, keeping her tight into his chest. Her hands flew around his neck, tucking on his silk locks.

He clearly felt the way her body heat spiked a few degrees up and the scent of her pheromones oozing from her body were making him go crazy. Sakura on the other hand had an internal turmoil about how should she move and fall into sync with him.

Suddenly, she felt totally clumsily at his move, not expecting him to do something that made her feel even _hotter_ than before.

She tentatively let her tongue poke its tip outside to tap on his own, when he leaned forward to slip into the warm cavern of her mouth and explore her again, skillfully and sensually, while she wads stuck in how to respond.

She felt Sasuke grow more demanding and passionate and it was enough to make her fall limp into his arms as his hands around her tightened possessively; she had her emerald orbs shut tight and she found herself expressing naughty sounds that she never thought she would be able to produce, but she simply couldn't stop herself.

This was too much and too heavenly to resist to. There was a bubbling moist sensation of a warm puddle amassing between the valley of her thighs and suddenly, the silky clothes she were started to suffocate her.

There was an amassing bundle of something _burning_ into her most intimate places that screamed for relief, but she couldn't even begin to sketch how to ask for a thing that she couldn't name. And it was all because of his touch and his hands on her.

 _Oh, Kami–sama…_

The funniest and most fascinating thing was that Sakura, the cherry blossom in bloom that he has discovered due to their chance meeting, was taking such a simple loving act of kissing, as something serious that she had to overanalyze and learn, in a similar way that she could learn for a written exam and aim for _perfection._

What she didn't know was the fact that the sublime of kissing someone didn't lay in the precision of the technique itself, but rather than to the art of fully indulging into the emotions evoked and the feelings awaken inside her.

Sasuke was sure that she was feeling the deep gap between their experiences and she felt somehow restrained by the fear of not being as good as his standards and expectations might be, when in reality, it was one of the best kisses that Sasuke ever had and it was definitely the most _special_ ones. What lacked from her proficiency, the jadeite jewel compensated through her unique special presence in his arms.

She wasn't being ferocious, carnal, greedy and brutal into trying to dominate and lead him like the majority of the female Vampires normally were when they seemed to attempt to devour their partners, bring more interested in shoving their fangs and taste the hot blood from the lips more than the act itself, totally losing the meaning behind it along the way, leaving it somewhere in the darkness, forgotten. That was arousing and hot enough to coax a drunk Vampire male into a steamy one night stand, but nowhere near to Sasuke`s standard. That kind of approach disgusted him deeply.

Sakura on the other hand was exactly what he was looking for in a woman. The rosette was so debonair, the harmony of her lips brushing and massaging his own was exquisite and delicious, she was soft and peaches sweet, and the warm soft hand that was skimming and playing into his raven hair was lulling and feminine.

The way Sakura was kissing him, one time doing it slowly but steadily getting the timing right, and sometime being wilder and gaining more courage to allow her tongue to span over his own and engage into a very passionate tango, dancing and sliding upon one another, brought an amassing calmness, tranquility and content into Sasuke's mind.

The Vampire Prince was always high alert and tensed to any danger, like ready to strike and never be caught unguarded, but this time, he completely relaxed, letting the weight of his chiseled frame sink into the rich lush mattress of his comfy bed, fully closing his eyes and only moving his lips when she did, silently leading her on the right path, interlacing their mouths and applying just a mild pressure so as she won't feel dominated by him.

Sakura happily leaned into his arms and sunk down with him when Sasuke brought their embracing selves to float atop his airy bed sheets, refusing to depart from his lips yet, even though her lungs were desperate to feel the gush of oxygen.

Who needed oxygen in that moment, when Sasuke was breathing _life_ and _pleasure_ inside her? Sakura clearly didn't.

The feeling of her pressing so closely and dearly to him, while his left hand rippled along the outline of her siren hourglass delicate curves, testing on the swell of her rounded hipbone as he was rubbing her skin upon the silk pure white nightgown she wore had a miraculously relaxing effect on her mind, but at the same time, her body boiled like a furnace.

Every inch of her skin felt like aroused from a deep slumber and even her toes burned like she was walking on hot charcoals.

When she abruptly pulled back from him in a desperate need to breath, Sasuke swore that never in his life has he encountered such a beautiful creature.

Sakura`s ivory skin was sewed with delicate crystalline snowflakes and it felt so soft under his palm, delicate like Chinese silk and mesmerizing like nature`s most brilliant work of art. His fingertips were jittering with the the grace of her delicacy, dancing under his touch.

Her cheeks filled with red roses as she blushed heavily, her emerald orbs were glossy and dancing with lust and her lips were widely parted and bruised from their intense kiss. She arched her spine to look into his eyes, but her hands remained curled around his biceps, nails pressing into his skin.

"…Ahm…" She started weakly between gasps of air; their pants combined into an intimate pound against their eardrums, fanning across each other's faces, as no one pulled back too much, enjoying the warmth of the other spanning across their lips. "D–Do you find me to be a promiscuous woman for… asking such a thing from you and doing what I have… j–just did…?"

 _It wasn't like she asked him to sleep with her now, did she?_ Her shyness never ceased to amaze Sasuke, she was so very different from her real ancestors, so unconfident and unpolished, but nevertheless, under the rough diamond, stood encrusted the most shimmering radiance.

He gave her one of his trademark smirks, one that stole her breath away in both sexiness and sincerity. "No." His palms slide along her bare hands, making her shiver. "What I find marvelous about you is that, unlike the majority of your brethren, you seek for something tangible to hold on when in reality, you seem to always be walking on water, Sakura."

She tried to keep a straight road and yet, curiosity and the thirst for knowledge pushed her out of the right path and she found herself swaying on side alleys, in search for the unknown, for darkness and for… sin.

For something… or _someone._

She downcast her emerald jewels and brushed a tug of cotton candy hair behind the shell of her ear, mumbling boldly before she could stop herself. "The only solid thing in my life… the only thing that is reliable to me is the ground I walk on."

"It doesn't crumble under the feet of _two_ people, you know? This ground won't even flinch if two people are stopping at the _same_ time, but it is your inner foundation the one that would feel empowered. You don't have to embrace loneliness, Sakura."

 _Not anymore._

"Sasuke," She breathed upon his lips, whispering like she didn't want to make the pleasant intimacy between them crumble. "you said that your former lover wasn't willing to spend an eternity with you. Is that true?"

"…Yes."

"You say that if she loved you like she has claimed to do, then she would have accepted to spend an eternity together with you, but… were _you_ willing to give up Immortality and die with her if she asked you to?" Meaning that love and that _promise_ between a Vampire and a Mortal went both ways; both should be willing to make the supreme sacrifice in the name of love, unconditionally. "Would you do it for _love_?"

He twirled a curled end of her cotton candy hair, shifting his stare to her luscious glowing viridian and golden expecting eyes –eyes that were trying to em into his own, eyes that were trying to understand and not miss a flicker of his own silvery raven ones.

"I would do it." There was no hesitance in his husky voice. "For the one I _love_ ," His inflection was silk and she felt the velvet words outpouring from his sensual lips, imixing with the shivers of her arms. "I would _die_ for her."

"Unconditionally?" Her emerald orbs widened at his bold response.

"Unconditionally for her," he knew exactly how to touch her body and heart and stir a mysterious fire within her sensual rolls were bubbling like fine champagne along her arms, while he stroked and tucked her hair like that, then caress the outline of her shoulders and arms.

Sasuke was being so gentle, so elegant and so chaste that she simply couldn't look away from his eyes. Sakura wouldn't know but Sasuke absolutely adored her hair –so unusual and so delicate. It bore the shade of innocence immixed into the color of blood.

Sin has been touched by angels, sealing their fate within the glossy fine threads of her hair, descending down the swells of her curbed shoulders. Her hands were laced together in a praying gesture and fell on his chest.

"Why?" Her voice trembled like she was both surprised and afraid that he would rasp at her from pressing him again with that topic, but she was curious and stubborn. "Why would you die for her?"

"Because I want to be with her forever and if I cannot bring eternity to her, then I will personally step into _her_ version of eternity. Even if it means to end up my life to stay with her. If I will reunite with the one I love in the Afterlife one day, then this way, I will be able to hold her hand once again," He did it without thinking; it came as natural as the care for a newborn, or the sunflower seeking for the sun, when his palm that lay sprawled across the mattress between them, brushed over her knuckles. He didn't miss the way her orbs brightened up with a warm lucent that that drown him to her. "then I would not even consider it a sacrifice to begin with, but a _blessing_."

He knew it now what it meant to be capable of such a sacrifice in the name of love. He didn't know when his fiancé left him, he was too young and too immature. But life was giving him another chance and this time, Sasuke vowed to make things right.

She felt her eyes moisten; he was so sincere that it touched her heart. She knew that Sasuke wasn't talking about his fiancé, but about what experience had taught him –he was talking about the _future._

"What if there is nothing there? What if it all ends when we die? No paradise? No hell? No infinite rivers of glory, honey and milk? No faces of the ones we loved the most?" Just as involuntarily, Sakura flipped her hand and let her small palm face upwards, so as his traveling fingers that were caressing her hand so delicately would skim across her opened hand, in a ghost of a hold.

"Then I won't have to bear the imprint of pain that she left me alone for the rest of the eternity. I will still stay committed to my choice because I won't have to live an eternity alone, without her."

Sakura couldn't help but think about how would it look like to live with this onyx eyed Vampire Prince forever? Would eternity scare her because of the uncertainty of not knowing where the End was, or would his presence and love –if she were to fall for him– be enough for her to never grow bored of him?

Never grow _over_ those feelings? Sakura came to realize that mortals concept of love was also limited and superficial. Two people who marry vow in front of God to say united until the Death pried them apart, so consequently they were also counting on a _Finale._

On the implacable Death to liberate them from a consensual union who was supposed to transcend Death and continue in the Afterlife -,projected in Eternity, in Paradise, but marrying a Vampire was the supreme test of Love.

Can someone truly love _forever_ , literarily? The concept scared her; but Sakura realized that uncertainty scared everyone, including the Vampires. Ino was scared that she won't remain able to restrain her blood thirst or that her group won't be able to reach their goal; Naruto and Hinata were afraid that their families will separate them; and Sasuke... S

he dared a glance into his onyx eyes and her breath left her lungs in a harsh puff; her heart missed a beat, making her feel light headed. Heavens, they were lucent and gleaming like sapphires; there were so many emotions reeling inside those charcoal eyes, like there were so many things he would like to tell her but couldn't voice through his words; his eyes were encouraging and pleading with her to understand his gestures and read his mind.

Her tears rolling from her eyes were flowing along her hair that was falling across her temple and she didn't realize that she was crying. The dew drops were spilling from her shimmering emerald eyes and moistening the tip of his finger.

Sasuke used his thumb to stroke her cheek and wipe away her tears; they felt warm on her porcelain cold face. He understood how cold she was and he mentally slapped himself.

He didn't need warmth because his blood and body were keeping him warmer during the night and that was the reason why he never left the heater set on. "You sought me out for comfort and here I am making you shed tears." She quickly shook her head and brought the back of her palm to wipe away her tears.

"N-No... it is not you." She stubbornly cut him off. "I understand the implication of your words that's all. I don't understand it Sasuke. Why haven't you told this to _her_? She might have still been here with–"

"–I only realized it when it was too late." It was his turn to inject to her and Sakura hushed and let him finish. "I was young... naïve, maybe a little bit supercilious in defying my autocratic father who wished for me to step into an arranged marriage... and I have foolishly lived under the illusion of being untouchable. But the realm of _wisdom_ only opens up its gates for the ones who knock on them genuinely, and not to the ones who _demand_ to be automatically welcomed inside, like they are _entitled_ to do so."

Sakura listened closely to his words, because she realized that it was the last time when she will ever steal that confession out of his mouth.

"I haven't paid attention to what she _really_ desired from me. I was charmed by this feelings that I had for her. In time, I came to understand the mistake of not reading through her sad smiles... I didn't understand a _human`s_ limitations, in comparison to my… to an _Immortal`s_ implied perfection."

She understood what he meant by that and so his tenderness and exaggerated care were justified all of sudden –Sasuke has judged a mortal like he would judge a Vampire, putting their needs on the same level, when in reality, they were different worlds, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing; on the contrary, it proved that he didn't think of his race as superior in any way.

He stupidly thought that she would automatically have the same manner of thinking as him, when in reality, the difference between their conditions and limitations turned into dread for the woman and suffocated her, so in the end, she was the one to realize that fairytales only existed on paper, but never in reality.

Sasuke didn't realize it then that he should never judge using the same archetype, because an Immortal and a Mortal were completely opposite creatures, so maybe this is why he was so opened up to Sakura and tried his best to glimpse to the depths of her soul –her mortal soul– finding it that the rosette`s orbs were once again burning with emotions, with tears of realization.

He begged her to open up to him more so that he could look into her heart, read what she truly wished him to do, let him see every thought and read her emotions, so that he will truly grant her any desire and never repeat the same mistake.

He was beyond considerate; he was the perfect _lover_. Because Sakura realized that no mortal husband or boyfriend would ever be so caring and so selfless towards the one he loves and give himself a hundred percent to her.

And Sakura had an inkling that not even all the Vampires were that self-effacing, on the contrary, they were corrupt and uncaring to the humans. This was only Sasuke. This is his own peculiar personality and oh, Kami–sama, she couldn't help but feel like she was starting to _free falling_ for him.

"Do you hate her for that?"

He shook his head once. "Of course not. Mortals will never win the battle with time but at least, they will bask in the taste of how it would be like to live forever. Then they die with the conviction that they could never reach it. It was her own free choice and I will never resent her for that, but nor will I cling to his shadow like my overdramatic friends think." Those blabbermouths were going to face his wrath someday, especially that blonde dobe Uzumaki.

That kind of presumptuous merits belonged to people like his father and most of the vampires, but not to him. Sasuke belonged to that category of Vampires who were not suffering in silence for their long-gone days as humans.

Being human was a marvelous upbeat gift, granted from Gods to people. Those feelings he could have easily evoked during his days as a human, when, leaving under the implacable threat of having a short lifespan and days to count their days of innocence were over, were full of aplomb as a race with the life itself to see who could elicit the most amazing sensations, was the one to grant the people the luxury of living their lives to their fullest, unrestrained, wild and free, and not scared or ashamed to be wrong and mistaken.

Inadvertences, overestimations, smile chaste gaffes, errors, misunderstandings, and oversights were all part of being MORTAL. One could always limn the uniqueness from another`s illusion and flub. On the contrary, being IMMORTAL came with the rejection of snafu and mistakes.

Fouls and wrong steps weren't permitted to a Vampire. They were an emblem of weakness and that was being on par with being flawed and cursed.

Vampires were denied remission and since they were all running in an infinite loop-hole in search for perfection, a fake impression of absolute, their lives were slowly turning into lifeless boulders chasing their shadows through the centuries, being the silent witnesses of how they carrying on failing their own standards, but they stubbornly kept on going.

Sakura had no idea how lucky she was to draw felicity from the most mystical small wonders of life, yet she was constantly rejecting her destiny, just as Sasuke was repulsed by his own condition. He lost his fiancé as a natural consequence of his own inability to penetrate the wall of the years he could not enjoy and mature as a mortal, becoming a Vampire, so he obviously failed to think of her best interest and read what was underneath the underneath.

He failed to see that she was asking for _simple_ things from him, while he was busy talking about infinity and absolute, as a denial of time and existence, and so he only understood that he was not only eclipsing her but automatically putting her on an inferior to him scale but scaring her as well.

Of course that she ultimately chose to stray and live the rest of her days among the ones that she could relate to. He lost his former love to the specific Vampires` arrogance. A mistake he won't repeat with Sakura.

Sasuke asked the woman he loved to die for him and give up a precious gift that his person wasn't able to balance. _He_ wasn't enough to be used as an exchange for _life._ But he arrogantly thought he was worth of her dying once for him.

How foolish.

"The memories we have together... this is my inheritance and I will honor her memory. But… I learned to forgive myself for my _own_ limitations. Father thinks that we are the supreme race. The epitome of power, wisdom, wealth and beauty. I do not share that selfish illusory ontology. My eyes are not in the darkness anymore. For perfection… even the most perfect ones should strive."

"Your friends are worried that you are still hurt and you are afraid to get close to the others and form bonds."

He dragged a heavy sigh. "They think I am mourning and sinking into misery, but I do not. I loved her once yes, and that is something that I will never deny because it would be an insult to the both of us. But that is a chapter in my life that I have written the word _'fin'_ on the file and let the wounds heal. Her memory claims no other power over me, it being just that another past episode in my existence, which has taught me a valuable lesson about romantic feelings. And this is something you cannot learn from books. Just like you cannot be schooled in the arts of pursuing happiness."

"So it means that you are ready to _move on_?"

"The fact that I have an _eternity_ at my disposal to reflect over what could have been, it doesn't mean that I am going to let the moments that I can treasure slip through my fingers. Contrary to what you might think about me, I am a pragmatic man. She is not the sole passage in my life that remained trapped into my Diary, but this is it,"

He gave her a short smirk because involuntarily, Sakura let her palms rest on his chest and slide in soft strokes while her emerald orbs were absorbed into his every word. "another memory among the others. Precious, but it belongs to the _past_ , while I,"

This is the moment when his chocolate voice dropped to a husky brush against her eardrums and skin. "am only interested into the _future_."

In those electrical emerald orbs that were looking at him with so much fragility, yet so much astute and interest, absorbing every syllable that fell across his lip, coursed an emotion that Sakura evoked subconsciously – Sasuke recognize it to be hope.

Like those words from him brought her relief. Was Sakura scared that he will forever sulk about a woman who left him and never open up to… someone _else_ in his life?

"Did you tell that to Naruto and the others?"

He shrugged indifferently. "My private life is a topic that only concerns _me_ , but as you could depict from their personalities, my comrades have preserved some very _bothersome_ human predilections and the taste for chitchat is among their favorite." Sasuke finished by quoting Shikamaru.

Yup, he was losing it.

Sakura giggled at that, knowing that he was completely right. Ino and Naruto were an immeasurable oasis of information about anyone and anything and their obstreperous easygoing personalities made it easy for them to open up their mouths and burst out confessions. Especially about someone as enigmatic and alluring as Sasuke Uchiha.

"I am glad to know that you don't bear any grudges." There came a moment when her viridian eyes found his in a clash of polished mirrors, gleaming and reflecting the light into each other`s gazes and they held it into the mist of an intimate silence before Sakura smiled to him in a way that made Sasuke's heart deviate from its steadfast peace. "I wish you to be very happy, Sasuke. You are a good man and a very deep… Vampire."

Without realizing the implications of her words, Sakura fell complacent enough to breathe to him words that she secretly wished to say to a man. "I am sure that you will find someone to love you like you deserve."

The myriads of silver crowns around his raven irises flashed into her own, like a ghost of an eclipse, as the aureate into her lustrous gleaming jade jewel mirrored the tranquility on his luminous features.

He was so gorgeous like that, with the shades and penumbras of lustrous blue and silver reflections of the pale graceful moon, evoking the royalty along the planes and angular lines of his masculine features, and Sakura found herself immerged into that native beauty of that gorgeous man beside her.

A Vampire, a mythical creature whose strong past was rooted into centureis of wisdom, elegance, refinement and supremacy, was a chest of treasures and unraveled mysteries to a snoop speculative shrewd woman like Sakura, and she felt more and more attracted to the feelings he conjured within her, whenever he was being in his vicinity.

Sasuke wasn`t being impolite or intrusive, his touches, caresses and especially, his voice, were serene and lunar and so _addictive._

It was more than physical attraction, it was in his general mystical personality and the aura of mystery embracing him, the things which were making Sakura lean closer to his every secret.

"Hn," He murmured his favorite laconic syllable while his fingertips smoothed along her bare forearm in a light touch; it was frightening how fast her body responded to the kiss of his fingertips across her skin, and he was barely making contact.

Sakura involuntarily shuddered and half shut her eyes, but she just couldn't peel off her eyes off his magnetizing beautiful jet ones. "Maybe I should pay more attention around and perceive the things that are within my _reach_ , instead of waiting for chimeras to come _alive_."

She momentarily froze at his poetic suggestion, as his voice couldn't have been more silk glassed and the low velvet alto tune made his chest vibrate like a piano`s hammer striking its strings, making his broad chest rumble like thunder.

Sakura felt her skin crawl in both sheer delight and dread and she simply couldn't stop her perusal to transcend the veil of his obsidian eyes and fell on the bare junction between his neck and shoulder, pouting comically.

A princess hand, more delicate than the feather of a swan reached for contact, as Sakura pressed her fingers on something that she failed to notice before, fingertips grazing over the intricate tattoo on his neck. "Is this a birthmark?" She followed its pattern on his skin.

Sasuke felt his body temperature boil and his blood howl like a beast; her touch was magnetizing. "Does it mean something? A tattoo maybe?"

She smiled naughtily –or so she tried. "I see," She concluded when Sasuke remained silent and just followed her hand on the side of his shoulder. "you also had your wild teenage days, didn't you?" He might have, she decided.

Sasuke admitted it to her that he was naïve and more haughty than how he was nowadays and also, she could see it from the dangerous way he dotted himself that night.

The Uchiha Vampire could be a _rebel_ if he wanted to.

He smirked to her and shook his head no, bangs falling askew on his cocked hear, concealing his stormy orbs.

"This is the _Mark of Sealing_ that any Vampire has. Despite the contradictory name, it is the Spell that is inherited from our ancestors and it represents the enclosure of the transformation ritual. My father performed the ritual of my transformation into a Vampire and woke up my _Immortal_ side that laid dormant in my human body," He explained as her orbs widened slightly; he quickly realized that Sakura didn't like the gore face of Vampires` darkest side.

"It is only performed by the Heads of every clan and its purpose is to make sure that our _spirit,_ or the _soul_ as you would put it, doesn't leave our bodies when we die as mortals and continues to be entrapped into our bodies that undergo the transformation into Vampires."

Sakura felt a cold shiver run her spine; so basically in the span of the dying of a body and their rebirth, they _force_ the soul that wishes to soar to Heavens, back down to withstand the decaying of its once confinement –the body until their metamorphose is complete.

"We, the _Lambda_ , call it the _Curse_ Sealing Mark for reasons that you have probably understood. It`s the sign that is going to accompany us for as long as we exist and remind us of the fact that we are no longer humans."

It must be a horrific experience. Sasuke smelled her fear through every pore, but what truly took him by surprise was her reaction. The softness in her eyes almost like she tried to steal that suffering torment experience from him and share his dolor was emotional.

"D-Do all the Vampires have this… C-Curse Mark?"

"Of course. Although the ladies are more preoccupied with hiding it for aesthetic reasons."

It explains how come she hasn't seen it on Ino`s skin… or the others around for the matter. It was easy to conceal it with clothes or jewelry but also a way to distinguish mortals from Immortals.

"But," She crunched her nose and askew her emerald orbs, pointing her finger under her chin in a ruminating stance. "even though you can clearly say Vampires from Humans by discovering this mark, it is impossible to pinpoint which mortals are coming from a family of Vampires since they don't have this mark before their transformation."

His cockily smirk in approval, assured her that she nailed it. "Very astute, yes this is correct."

She tapped the contour of his mark and she didn't know whether she did it out of sheer fascination, or because the radiance of his alabaster skin combined with his incredible softness was making her fingertips curl and tickle in delight.

Her slim digits descended along the contour of the comas and indecipherable writtings around the circle, in a diaphanous meandering gesture. "Did you… hurt? Has it been painful for you?"

"You have no idea." She felt bad for him, for the physical torture that he probably undergone and Sakura couldn't keep it from her kinesics; she swallowed the lump in her throat knotted of unshed tears for him before she could stop herself and be so obviously emotional and weak.

"I do not need empathy. This is how it is as a fragment of any Vampire`s destiny. This is part of my existence. There is no use of grieving for something that you cannot change."

"I know you are very strong, Sasuke. " She smiled at him shyly, tucking a falling pink lock away of her eyes. "I will never do something so insulting as to doubt your ability to overcome hardships." Emerald orbs lowered from his coal ones to his chest.

"It's just that I… I am just _so_ frustrated that I cannot do anything to ease your pain, even though you agreed to help me cease down my own."

The exuberant effervescence within her eyes, the disquisitive peeping gazes emphasizing the inquisitive character and the worry that she expressed for someone who she has just met was staggering.

Something resonated within Sasuke`s heart in that moment. He felt his heartbeat tremble like a harmonic romantic string of a Spanish guitar when their eyes caressed each other in a stare more intense than a fusion of energy and they both felt a _connection._

 _That_ connection.

In a world void of perfection, completion was virtuous and idealistic. Her hand moved on her own free will towards his angular strong jawline, sliding up to feel his raven hair, tucking a flowing longer strand from his temple, around her index finger.

He was so smooth and flawless, and yet, so deliciously masculine sculpted, and Sakura found herself unable to keep those staccato gestures to pound into her heart at bay, and not touch him.

This Vampire was an evergreen beauty and the fact that he won't ever age, but preserve that electrical virility in a clepsydra of time written in the sand, was magnificent and amazing.

She kept on wondering about him loving a mortal woman and how would he feel when she would be kissed by the lips of indomitable time, while he remained unflappable like nature: always young and perennial.

And then the wise rosette`s mind went through a quick reminiscence about what he confessed to her when they first met, about him feeling cursed for being Immortal.

If he were to befriend people –humans– he would inevitably have to go through the pain of _losing_ them to the merciless time one day, and watch them all rot and be buried along with the memories that lingered into their cold marble tombstone, resting atop their graves. What a tortuous price to pay for bonding, she sadly thought.

Sasuke was somehow forced by his condition of Vampire, to the only connect to Vampires and go through the eternity together.

Obviously, it would be placid, boring and lose that intense spark, that only people who live their life under the constant imminence of death lingering above their shoulders. Vampires were lazy by nature, unhurried and always floating, having all the time in the world.

Mortals like her on the other hand, lived at the speed of light and progress, enjoying every day like it was their last one, hence tasting the rush of adrenaline, life, and implacable destiny on the tip of their tongues, daily.

Exuberance was clearly uncharacteristic to a Vampire, while it gleamed into the lucent viridian irises that encircled her pupils like spring's crown of nature's rebirth, attracting Sasuke' inner solitary raven's ones into that night inner just like shadows pursuing light.

He found her jubilance exhilarating, her presence was solar, jolly and tonic, her delicate gestures were innocent, childish, clumsy and cute and her overall inquisitive attitude was calming, warm and refreshing.

In a world of superior races –Vampires– where the borders of sublime of grace, power, wealth and beauty have already been outlined, Sakura comes into his life unexpectedly and jumped right into the middle of the calm lagoon's waters and created sparks, magic, and bubbles.

She was a timid bell flower kissed by the last remains of snow, a ray of light knocking on his window on a lazy summer morning, a beautiful angel with velvet wings, fluttering around him, beautiful, mystical, celestial and ineffable.

He felt something he deemed as forever engraved in stone, an indescribable need to _protect_ her, have her in ways only known by the passion of a wielder of nocturne delirium and desires, make her weak on his knees and blind to everything else but him, and ultimately, collect his remains of his shattered _heart_ and trust, and nest them to her feet, _begging._

He was lonely. Very lonely. But the last two days have been the most fulminant and joyful in the last decades of his exitence.

"You already soothe me, even if you might not be conscious of it."

"Oh," She tapped her neck and a wave of disappointment overwhelmed it, and the way she askew her emerald orbs from him didn't go past his vigilance.

"This… ahm… right, blood," She mumbled before stopping herself and it hurt, not physically, but it was hard to breathe like she felt suffocated by something painful. "Is my _blood_ … the only thing that I am good for?"

He has caught the imprint of dejection, sadness and disappointment into her eyes. And that was why his hand slide down her jaw and snuck under her palm, bringing her hand to the level of his lips, latching them around her wrist, where his lips have fluttered in a suave kiss upon her cashmere skin and the pumping of life through her soft winding veins, making her tremble by the grace of his warmth and delicacy.

"What I have just shared with you, was not a reference to your _blood_ , Sakura." He was talking about her solar energy, the lucent halo of vitality overflowing through her vivacious radiant smile.

Apart from her outrageous request –she started to get the vibe that she was asking more than the world from him and her paying back would never be enough – another _sentiment_ has been sneaking inside her heart, overthrowing the one to end up her life or be happy, and that was do something for Sasuke as in get to know him better.

A mystifying ardent latent yen to get closer to him and… get inside a place that wasn't open to just anyone –his heart– has unexpectedly bloomed inside her own heart, in a way that only Yin was searching for its Yang counterpart to become one again and it was sizzling.

She knew it wasn't love, or lust or physical attraction, although Sakura won't ever deny the physical attraction and mild infatuation for someone so flawless. It scooped far deeper and carved into her very soul, tapping and attaching to her, like a shadow pepping from behind the wall and touch the light.

She ardently needed to _touch_ him, feel his skin under her fingertips, and ultimately press her lips against his one more time, because something whispered to her that, if she did so, she would figure it out what that unfathomable feeling fluttering inside the basket of her chest truly represented.

"Do you really think that I invited you to come and live here in my home, solely because I desire your blood? I could never atone before my own conscience for insulting a lady in such a reprehensible way." Sasuke spoke softly.

"Your virtue and fragility," His voice was sheltering, protective, warm and soft like cotton, yet rich and sensual, without any trace of vulgarity in his sumptuous tone. "I am beyond an unforgivable sinner for trying to taint it… with hands stained in blood."

He meant that he killed with the same fangs that he touched her skin and drunk her blood. Odds were foster to make them chance meeting in such an inconvenient manner, him being thirsty for blood and her in need for a savior.

"Why am I here, Sasuke?" She couldn't prevent Ino`s poignant confessions to penetrate her mind, as well as she was powerless before the words she spilled in between the dolorous tears when she let her know about the scandalous vulgar episode when Sasuke`s group of friends and rebel supporters has come alive. "Why did you _really_ save _me_? A _nobody_ like me… to a superb man like you…" What was she to him?

Sasuke understood the implication underneath her words: why would a royalty like him, take the risk of falling off the bridge and endanger his own life, just to save a commoner, a pauper like her, if not for free delicious blood that she didn't mind sharing?

It made no sense, and she absolutely rejected the utopic idea of him nurturing real romantic feelings for her, but, for some undecipherable reason, her heart pained whenever she thought of that.

"I find it challenging to comprehend this particular thing about you, Sakura." His words susurred like rivers of chocolate, making her skin trembled in delight and his fine eyebrows slant to the bridge of his nose, as he abruptly stood up, sliding a hand through his rebel ebony spikes, letting them spew tantalizingly along the outline of his temples and brush over his nape and bare shoulders, turning his head to peek at her.

"Why are you disparaging yourself so much? Instead of being cognizant of your value, you just keep on vilifying the person reflecting into the mirror, as you gaze back to see yourself. The critique here is you, Sakura. You fail to see your precious endowment because your mind works against you and present a distorted image of the amazing woman you are."

Sakura had to blink twice, so as Sasuke`s very insightful and mindful words were slipping inside his mind because she has been fighting the knots in her belly when he raised his upper body up and presented her a delicious view of his slender back.

Was Sasuke being so sensual on purpose? Because, seriously, when the Uchiha Vampire rasped a hand through that silk glossy rich hair, with an airy habitual nonchalance worth of a lady killer, all the fine muscles embroidered into his arm and back flexed and rippled in a way that made the crevice of her mouth dry of saliva, urging her to gulp twice to alleviate the knot inside.

Everything that flew out of his mouth, was a sad truth, but where was she supposed to have such a confidence from, since everyone around her, from the beginning of her miserable existence until now, kept on reminding her how much of a failure and an unwanted bother she was?

She stood up as well, curling her fingers around the blanket, viridian grief–stricken hues dropping to her lap, not knowing what should she say and not seem like a total depressive fool.

It wasn't like she was self–pitying herself, because, during the road of her forced premature adult years, she grew to accept her fate, but flirt with other possibilities and outcomes.

Sakura wasn't trying to win the pity of her interlocutors –Sasuke in that case– nor did she enjoy to complain in vain about how unfair the fate has been with her so far. It was simply that she wasn't aware of what or how should she view herself, other than a totally invisible unimportant young poor woman.

An immediate bolt of a really high voltage discharged along Sasuke`s spine at the sight of those eyes which normally mesmerized him with their radiance and joviality, collapse like dying faraway stars and fill with dysphoria, as a consequence of his ventured questions and affirmations, and he mentally cursed himself for the slip of his tongue and lack of tact when addressing such a frail woman.

"I apologize. I have crossed a line I should have never transgressed. You do not have to– "

"You`re right." Her crystalline voice didn't go beyond a gentle wind blow, but Sasuke's high perked up senses caught every syllable, as she dared to lift up her chin and gaze into his onyx eyes. "But I don't know what am I supposed to say, because, even though I know you are right in everything you assume about me… I am still of no value to anyone."

Oh God, she couldn't cry now in front of him and ruin whatever was left from his night, with her childish weeping behavior, so she quickly averted her gaze, facing a rather interesting painting on the wall, muttering a short curse for being so damn weak.

It was just the fact that conversing with Sasuke was so natural and warming her heart, that she couldn't even maintain a polite façade and do what any other normal woman do, when in the staggering presence of an irresistible man like Sasuke, namely attempt a smart intricate conversation and be feminine, but what was she doing instead?

Bringing the baby inside her to the light and inflict more pity to her already melancholic image. Well done in successfully ruining a fascinating interesting atmosphere between them.

But nothing from her body language slipped unnoticed by Sasuke`s unforgiving quick–witted orbs, finally understanding where all of that distress was truly coming from having nothing in a dense, materialistic world, Sakura had the tendency to automatically outcast herself from all the social circles –especially his high–class one– and feel overwhelmed and at loss of how to behave when in anyone`s presence.

Sure, she most likely found it easier and more comfortable to interact with women like Hinata or Ino, because females understood each other better and spoke the same language that would forever be a chest of mysteries to men, so Sakura probably linked and connected to them since neither of the lunar Hyuga heiress, nor the glamorous vibrant Ino were infatuated and inequitable, but the situation took a dramatic 180 degrees turn when she was in HIS presence.

To put it simply, he was overwhelming her, which was exactly something that Sasuke has never intended. The Uchiha Prince wanted to offer her security, shelter and protection, and not another pair of smug eyes to criticize her and put her down.

And that was the reason why his right hand reached for the swell of her chin, cupping it softly, but firmly enough to urge her to turn around and clash her glossy almost lucent with tears she was fighting back emerald orbs and face him. "I am making you uncomfortable. I assure you it is not in my intention. I want you to find comfort and security here."

His thumb caressed the outline of her curled eyelashes, brushing away a gleaming warm tear that aligned with her viridian cat eye and Sakura didn't even have any idea of why she only felt like shedding more tears.

It was in the way his words spilled like pearls from his mouth and embroiled around her neck akin to a necklace of security and comfort, in a similar way that the gift she got from him was latched to her skin, reminding her of him and having his own print and touch.

"You might not realize it, but you are genuinely stunning Sakura. Your superior intelligence and sheer wisdom shine in the questions you ask and the way you talk about poetry and philosophy, you are insightful and logical, yet you are versatile and mindful to the small beauties enfolding before your eyes, just like you treasured the moments we spent at the amusement park."

Sakura simply couldn't help but remain trapped in an intense eye lock, as Sasuke kept on showering her with praises about her own merits –which she didn't think she possessed– while elevating her tarnished pitiful self from the ground, where she left it crumbled to rot, and placing it among the stars.

She also fought the need to melt like hot caramel at the gentles of his touch, and the way his thumb was drawing imaginary circles on her cheek, filling it with roses in bloom. The most mesmerizing thing about his rich vibrating alto voice was that he was being _sincere._

"You have an unparalleled jovial way of interacting and befriending people, inviting them to know you and your honesty, and thus rapidly making them like you back, as you did to my friends, and mind telling you, they are really reticent and inquisitive about newcomers into our special circle."

How could that rosy haired woman not be aware of the elegance and refinement that her manner of conduct reflected through every single gesture she did? It was a thing that would forever remain a mystery to Sasuke.

Not to mention the blazing energy that her solar suave innocent smile was inflicting into the casket of his chest, crumbling the concrete walls around his heart, with that immensurable surge of intangible femininity and grace, being the epitome of happiness and love.

"Last but not least," Sasuke dropped his voice an octave, making his baritone vibrate like a low piano key, making Sakura`s heart miss a beat, by the implication of his next statement. "You are so unbelievably _beautiful,_ Sakura." Never in her life has anyone, let alone such a fine gorgeous man, praised her for her beauty and be so serious and not mocking or lewd and libidinous.

And more than once. He kept on telling her that and it made Sakura feel so special and so… desired. Such an incredible feeling that is.

His thumb stopped siphoning her with fine delectable touches, making a pause right above the swell of her heart shaped light rose upper lip, focusing on the way it resembled the tip of a Cupid`s arrow.

"Y–You are being flirtatious again."

"Does my approach seem too ostentatious to you? Am I making you feel uncomfortable, Sakura?"

Flamboyant definitely not! Heavily sensual, lyrical and romantic? Totally. Alluring and incredibly sexy? HELL YEAH! That was the problem, Sasuke was almost too PERFECT and she was powerless to _resist_ him.

Sakura only shook her head no, but a pink show virgin hue tainted her rosy cheeks and she was embarrassed and slightly dishonest to him. He was making her REACT all right! "I feel so small in comparison to you." To how elegant he was and how splendid in eloquence and gentility. "So… _unfitting_ to be here."

"How can a _star_ deny its value on the sky? When it stays in a place that no one can reach, only in their dreams and aspirations?"

She bit her lower lip and didn't prevent a smile. Was that flirting what they were doing? "So cheesy." He smirked at her in a way that was becoming impossible to stop from squirming of the butterflies in her stomach. "Do you mean that I remind you of a planet? As in… so far away out of reach and lonely?"

He shook his head slowly. She followed the motion of drops of water meandering along his chest from his still slightly damp hair. "No, I mean you have your own light."

"But stars don't emit their own light. They steal it from the Sun."

"True, but I have never mentioned what kind of star and the Sun is also a star." He smartly responded, while caressing her cheek and brushing her coral hair. "The most brilliant, incandescent, luminous," Something flipped in his voice when he breathed huskily and his eyes took a sharp detour from their lyrical glow. "And _hot_."

Oh, dear Kami–sama, Sakura forgot how to breathe for a moment. Those eyes… they were shining in a way that she has never seen before to him.

"I–If that`s so," She couldn't help but stammer again because her lips felt dry. "Then you remind me of the moon, Sasuke." She rubbed the back of his hand absentmindedly.

She hasn't observed the moon embed on it so far, but she was as discreet as possible in searching for their Lambda symbol which surprisingly, she hasn't found. Although Ino made it clear that their group belonged to Lambda and she had the mark. Sasuke on the other hand, didn't.

"You mean that I am brooding and being... _emo-ish_?" Sasuke rolled his orbs in fake exasperation, trying to mimic to owner of that phrase. She couldn't stop herself from snorting at that. "That is to quote a dobe that you have just met."

"Hehe, well not in the way he put it. I mean that you know how to glow in the darkness and be a silent safeguard during the day. I cannot see you, but I know you are there and this brings comfort."

The lonely satellite was mystery in all its beauty, grace, paleness; it wasn't burning her skin, but it was silently showing the right path, although sometimes it could be fantastic, ethereal, confusing and illusory,.

The pale moon rays showed a sweetened contour of everything, including the most hideous forms, it enveloped everything into a veneering of sensuality, it was the flickering light for lovers to find their embraces through the limbs of night, secluded from the peekers.

Almost immediately, Sakura leaned into Sasuke`s touch as he was caressing the outline of her jaw and cheeks, then brushed along her neck. He could feel his effect on her; her pulse accelerated in an instant whenever he touched her and that was making his whole body react.

He wanted her and craved for her blood more than he craved for anything in this world, but he has taken drastic measures in order to numb that thirst and not puncture her skin with his fangs, namely he took a shot of blood before returning back home.

It was so pitiful that it was him, the Leader of the Rebels the one to have so little control, but it was better than abuse this woman`s generosity.

When pills weren't enough, their group relied on the experimental injection that replaced the regular pills when they simply couldn't hold back their savage Vampire nature calling; the injection was indeed powerful and prolific, but the after effect left him quite dizzy, his chakra levels have dropped significantly and the chakra net was also damaging; and of course, just like any regular _drug_ , it was addictive.

It was already in the moment when it left her lips has Sakura realized that Sasuke had a disingenuous way of stealing confession after confession from her and it was only when his smirk closed with the flush of her cheeks has Sakura realized that she has complimented him in a very romantic way.

Was that considered giving him t _he eye?_ It was probably the lust sprinkling, when their gazes lowered on each other's` lips again in a magnetizing covet of juiced desire, longing, needing, wanting, yenning to taste again… and again, insatiable and possessive.

It was Sasuke the one to move first, while Sakura was still spellbound in his charged stare; a gaze so intense and electric, like pure lightning bolts jolting along her spine and conjuring trembles in pleasure all over her limbs.

His hand sought for shelter in the curb of her waist, spanning his long digits along her lower back, claiming possession over her tiffany silhouette, as he diligently lead her to him and she allowed him to guide her into his chest.

Her hands automatically sought for the luster of his skin, reaching for his sinewy shoulders and encompassed the sharp bones with timid fingers, holding him dearly.

She had no idea how loving her gestures felt and how incredibly intimate that moment enfolded, but what truly sent Sasuke`s Vampire senses soaring into Nirvana, was the sound of her pulse and the melodious heartbeat of her racing heart, playing with such a nervous intensity, and percolating under his fingertips.

She felt it clearly; her body hasn't fallen prey to her purity. The wanton needs, the engulfing desire veiling both of them in an erotic moment that they didn't even seek for, sizzling like a bonfire around their interlaced shadows, all screamed compatibility and history.

Sasuke knew the reason for that, because Itachi has enlightened him the first time he called, but he still found it marvelous how impressive the Grand Play of Destiny was, as it maneuvered their fates into such an amorous tragedy.

Sakura belonged to _him_ , and even if she was in the shadows, the jadeite eyed beauty felt it too, transcending beyond physical attraction.

She longed for him in both body and spirit and that reflected into her gestures and the luminous emerald in her eye. Eyes that turned a deeper shade of green with his left hand, the one that was not encircling her middle and slicking along the silk of her nightgown, reached for her cheek and cupped it gently, anticipating another kiss.

An expert digit traipsed down the outline of her pulse, as the Vampire Prince tilted his head to gaze at the vein that pumped life into her lithe body. His mouth went dry and mad with the ravenous desire to taste her again, as his thumb brushed her skin in a tickling fine way, that only _him_ was able to conjure. "S–Sasuke," She murmured his name in half of a moan. "do you want to–"

He surprised her again, not leaning forward to press his lips against hers like she secretly wished for, even thug she did a very cute innocent gesture as parting them briefly in anticipation –or was in the need for oxygen so overwhelming– or drinking her blood again.

"Rest." His baritone echoed more serenely than a choir of crickets. "I vowed to protect you, and not to _hurt_ you." Every fragment of his body sliced like an electrical laceration in arduous thirst for her, but Sasuke vowed to control himself and overthrown that carnal inheritance that his Vampire ancestors cursed him with, until he wouldn't be able to take it any longer.

It was more hideous that reflection of his monster spanning like a Shadow from Hell as he pressed his canines into her swan neck and blemish her while he suckled her life, than to withstand the millions of painful electric endless piercing his skin as he felt his body dry and writhe like a leaf in late fall without her nectar.

"Your nights are already haunted by unpleasant memories. I do not wish to be another stained page in your memory."

Oh, how much Sasuke longed to fill her nights with passion, ardent embraces, and touches against her damp skin, as they would ride the night in each other's embraces, have her cry his name in bliss and slide inside her until every figment of what was horrifying to her will leave her life forever.

Give this delicate cherry blossom flower a reason to look for as many nights with him as possible, making love right there in the confinement of his bed and get lost with him nested firmly inside her. But… not yet. He didn't want to seduce her, he wanted Sakura to come to him genuinely because she truly _desired_ him.

It was so easy to charm her enough to give in to lust… but Sasuke wanted more than this. This was a woman that was meant to be his and only his –in body, mind and spirit.

His voice alone... oh my God, it was sweet aphrodisiac. Sakura`s eyelids were fluttering by the tremors that crept along her forearms and his hand around her waist made her feel so _good_ –wanted and needed.

"You are safe with me Sakura," She let her cheek rest under his chin as Sasuke arched his neck to make a place for her. His hand slides up the sinuous spine, pressing her into his chest, relishing in her floral fruity smell and her timid body warmth. "Safer than anywhere else," He almost smirked when Sakura choked on a gulp of air, inhaling sharply as her small hands coiled around his neck.

She exhaled contently, fighting against the need to purr into his arms. Sasuke was crayoning imaginary circles on her back, adoring the way her pearl skin was rivaling with the softness of her translucent nightgown.

Damn Ino for dotting her new rose haired friend with such a provocative erotic garment. "I will not touch you in any way that will be disgraceful to you. Not as long as I can control myself."

 _Did that mean that after his tremendous_ _self-control_ _ended, he will ravage her?_ Sakura wasn't sure whether to feel threatened by that or _hot_ and burning all over.

She felt so natural and so fitting there nuzzled into his arms and cuddled under his bed sheets, Sasuke couldn't help but notice.

She was clearly tired and it was visible from the way her body was lulled into slumber, so he took the chance to observe the tiffany creature from his arms better, taking in her radiance contoured by the silvery blue radiance of the moon.

She belonged to the spring, just like the bloom in her rosy cheeks while her vibrant orbs, reminding him of the gentle leaves fluttering rhythmically in the wind, as her coral hair sprawled on his neck and pillow in luscious myriads of a bride`s veil.

The fluttering of her long curled eyelashes opened up their folds to present him the treasures nested inside, in the form of her gleaming lucent emerald gemstone, as an iridescent feeling upturned along the column of his spine, breathing in the ineffable grace of her solar radiance and the beauty of her sylph gorgeous features.

Sakura was such a beautiful innocent flower, always rosy and floral scented, and so feminine and vibrant, as the strings inside his chest empowered with a suave soft harmonious tone, in canon with the crystalline suss of her voice.

Heavens, Sasuke felt damned to fight every inch of the steady meticulous self-control he had, not to touch her like her steamed to and show her exactly what a wielder of the night could _do_ to her and what level of pleasure would her body be introduced to, if only she allowed him, but Sakura has drawn a fine precise line between their rather complicated relationship, which he was tied to respect and obey.

Deep down, experience and his own manly instincts convinced Sasuke of Sakura's undiscovered lust for him, and he knew that seducing her would be like maneuvering a small clumsy child into tasting from the chocolate he was offering, without suspecting that it was poisoned. It wasn't fair.

And Sasuke would never use such a cheap cliché and stale trick -human deprived trick- like his looks and charms to lure a lady, especially if she was someone special like Sakura and present her a false reality.

Yes, he had valuable cards up on his sleeve and he could artfully twirl the words around his digit and spellbound her with eloquence, subtlety, and wisdom, but he would never. Sasuke was a Prince -even if it was out of his own accord, but still aristocrat- and he lived on the high tide of his reputation.

No noble gentleman, be it from a family of Vampires or Mortals, belonging to the crème de la crème would ever indulge in such sultry behavior and disrespect Sakura's morals, wisdom, and trust in him.

"You... are trying to... flirt with me." Exhaustion started to wrap her in a dizzying mantle, as Sakura felt her eyelids weigh heavy on her half little orbs, as slumber was finally taking over her.

"Is my charm working?" She failed to see the smirk that crept on his face when she tried to shake her head _'no'_ , but at the same time, her sneaky fingers were playing with his slick raven locks that cascaded along his nape.

"It doesn't–" Sakura`s weak lie remained trapped on her lips as she felt herself slowly drifting into Sasuke`s arms, but this time her face was not crested by twisted nightmares, as it was serene and content.

Her skin seemed encrusted with opaline lucent pearls, the scintillating fading blue moon rays were playing along the outline of her peaceful silhouette, as Sasuke`s fingertips skimmed along her flute suave form, feeling the dirty electrical sparkles that his touch conjured on her skin, bubble under his touch and a content sigh, followed by an angelic soft pleased smile intertwined with Sasuke's delighted analytical onyx eyes.

She was so beautiful in the way she helplessly and unconsciously followed the lead of his chaste touch, as a sunflower turning her stare towards her sun, trying to proudly reach the sky, with her aureate soft petals. The same solar rich golden shade as her irises, he noticed.

Has he been one heartbeat slow and late in reaching for her shadow, the Uchiha Prince would have lost her to the God of Death forever and be deprived of the taste of her sweet rich dark cherries kiss dancing upon his own lips forever, realizing ironically that they were, indeed, connected by a heartbeat.

The deep look into her eyes transcended Sasuke into her Paradisiac world, carrying him through an orchard in bloom; Sakura was so floral, exotic, natural and pure, with all her introspective reason and curious innocent personality, that Sasuke couldn't help but want to embrace her tightly and melt her into his chest to cure them both of solitude.

She was the sweetest and most entrapping cure for the loneliness that chased his shadow, as a merciless hangman, being his curse and only companion during his sleepless tormenting nights.

Twilights and sunsets when he longed for someone to love him as he would whisper lulling words of endearment while they would find solace in their laced arms, a special her to find the most excellent intimacy and the installable epitome of erotica together, immersed into the blistering lagoon of their lovemaking, suddenly started to take a form.

He had that once, but the scars he has been cursed with after he lost it, have never fully healed.

Sasuke longed for a romantic affiliation to somebody, he was ready to trust someone unconditionally and love a future her again and even grant her the honor of bearing his family name sometime in the future, but up until then, that woman, who he would cherish and sanctify her, has never shown up and slowly, but surely, Sasuke has started to lose hope.

Ultimately, he encased his heart into a silk cocoon, reminiscent to a chrysalide waiting to reborn again and fly like a majestic iridescent butterfly, forgetting how it was to _feel_.

And then comes Sakura, a woman oblivious to her ancestors and family affiliations and defy every definition and mistrust of him towards the opposite sex, and unfold the flower blooming on her chest before him, inviting him to feel the softness and the scent of an unadulterated womanhood and smile in a way that pushed sanguineness and faith back inside him.

They were already enemies by default if Sasuke was to respect the hierarchy of _his_ clan and fellow Vampire, but his rebel pipe dream and convictions pulled him back to her, not caring about _who_ she was or if someone opposed him.

Sasuke was positive that his _father_ would instantly sending him to rot into nothingness for bringing such a _shame_ to his clan and surname, but it was even easier for him to defy Fugaku and his world of snob shallow mediocre Vampires again after he did it once.

He will _so_ do that again, he thought amused.

The prospect of finding that precious jewel to treasure and adore in the form of an angelic Sakura, was exhilarating and promising to him. Sasuke found himself exploring his own feelings and he found it really easy and natural to love someone like her, but he refused to be selfish and repeat the same mistake that ceased away his former fiancé.

The woman with the most emerald jewels in her stare would be free to choose what was best for her and tell him _no_ whenever and Sasuke would obey to let her be happy, even if it was _without_ him.

It wasn't late at all to give up on the idea of sucking her blood and shorten her lifespan. She still had a long life unfolding before her eyes so why to take it away from her.

Because she was the one who first tried to give it all up and die willingly.

Something was off regarding their promise and Sasuke couldn't decipher it exactly. Sakura wanted to die, she wasn't scared of it like any normal mortal, she was seeking and pursuing it, but it wasn't right, or fair.

She had to live, she should shine and love her days of bloom and innocence, enjoy her young innocent days and then, find someone to love her and age together, into wisdom, until they would close their eyes to welcome eternity.

She denied all in the favor of living intensely for a short period of time, like an insane person on the verge of dying, spending everything and live to its fullest, as long as he had to live.

It was all wrong. Sakura wasn't faced with the imminence of death, she was free to find happiness and ultimately continue to pursue that dream and find something beautiful.

She wanted _him_ to show it, but _how_? _What_ exactly did she want him to do? Because Sasuke only knew one single safe road to discover the feeling that ultimately everyone looked for, and that was love. Only **love** was the key that could open up the gates of felicity.

Softly, and light as a gentle caress of the summer breeze through the viridian blades of grass, his fingers rippled upon the luscious softness of her hair, brushing a fallen lock off her serene face, tucking it around her ear and she nuzzled closer to his chest, curling a hand around his bare carved rippling torso, resting her head in the junction of his neck and shoulder, fanning her gentle breaths upon his bare skin, so intimately and fitting, without realizing what she was summoning inside him.

She was involuntarily cuddling with the image of him protecting her and Sasuke was at a loss of what to do. Yes, he would never back away from his promise, but Sakura didn't know what she was looking for.

If she _did_ fall in love with him, then would she step into his former lover's shoes and walk away or accept to live with him forever, just like she personally confessed to him?

He didn't doubt her words and probably she has been sincere, but she was only speaking hypothetically. What would she do if she was presented with the choice of being with him for eternity for _real_?

She also had to die -like she wished to in the first place- but then be reborn as a Vampire and become his _bride_. Could she love him so deeply than give everything up just to be with him?

Was a mortal like her truly capable of giving up on everything just to be with the one she loved, or he should indeed take his family' s advice and only betroth a Vampire like him?

"Don't... l-leave..." She susurred into her slumber, probably fighting the dreams that plagued her mind again, tightening her possessive hold around his upper torso.

The warmth of the sinuous perfect falls and peaks of her curvaceous delicate form, pressing deliciously fitting upon his own body radiated an inviting warmth, and the obsidian eyed Uchiha Prince froze at the next single word that escaped her succulent lips, encompassed into the shape of a heart. "S-Sasuke…"

"Do you truly want me by your side, angel?" His whispered to her in a velvet voice that was perfectly blending into the serenity of the starry night as he filled her sleeping ears and, even if she didn't answer back, her heart was sound and awake, connecting to his rhetorical dearly question, as Sakura sunk further into his chest, stirring so as to fully rest on his chest and shelter into his arms.

He was powerless to resist her in any way, so he simply enfolded his hands around her petite bare shoulders and waist, resting his high chin atop the crown of her head tickled by the puffs of luscious silk coral hair, closing his eyes as her warmth fused with his own and swinging him into the limbs of slumber and dreams.

Sakura was a cherub playing the harp of light and Heaven, to the King of Darkness. Their story resembled the Greek elegies, hymns, and tragedies of love, but they were also free to choose their ending: a happy or a sad one.

"After so many decades of being denied your presence," Sasuke whispered to her, even though she couldn't hear him, tucking on the blanket and covered them both, up to Sakura`s shoulders out of reflex, because his sweltering body boiling like a funnel, provided more than enough warmth.

Sakura looked so fragile and vulnerable - a fluttering delicate snowflake fluttering in the cushion of the gray winter sky - and yet, so astute, so naturally intrigued by his world, fascinated and driven by a meticulous curiosity to find the beauty in the smallest mysteries, that was so uncommon for a mortal.

She was a perpetual living contradiction; and just as she was bring fascinated by him, Sasuke too found so much enigma in her femineity.

There were so many wonders that a young woman embodied and that innate attraction was something that no man could fight against - be it Vampire or man - her grace, the exquisite taste of her sweet lips, the gentle soul, her delicacy, the suave voice, the melodic gesture, her sparkling intelligence, the courage to face Death with so much nonchalance, her affinity to philosophy, the ability to befriend his friends and charm them with her effervescence and innocence, just like she charmed... _him._

Sasuke could feel it clear - lust emanating through her pores. It was there in her emerald brilliant, in her innate body language, in the ancestral impulse to nuzzle closer to him, even if she herself wasn't aware of that she was feeling.

And her desire was only fueling his, but unfortunately, he had to channel it in butterfly touches and not make her feel pressured into giving in into him.

But Kami only knew how ardently he wanted her - in blood, in the flesh, in spirit, in the soul in here and in eternity.

She was his by the choice of destiny, she belonged to him... but he couldn't tell her the truth. Not yet because he was not like his ancestors. And definitely not like his father.

Sasuke will never force anyone into following his commands, no matter what, especially not a woman. Ever since Itachi, his faithful brother has dropped the bomb about her real identity, Sakura was present on his mind.

It was almost ironic how they met - on a bridge. The symbol between two crossing worlds. A pathway. The almost ended her life there and he saved her life there giving her another choice.

This is the reason why his behavior was so confusing and questionable to her. He observed that he was too much of anything: too gentle, too loving, too caring, too elegant and too irresistible.

His father is probably boiling like a volcano right now. He couldn't help bit smirk at the thought. Anything to infuriate Fugaku was music to his senses.

Because as much as they loathed each other, they needed each other for accomplishing their own goals. This was the bond between Sasuke and his father: a battle of ambitions. And the winner will be determined by the party whose ambition is the highest and the strongest.

But this girl... this exotic girl with the eyes like the emerald sea, was his. And if she would fall for him in that passionate way that only a heartbeat could unite the souls, then he will show her how his world went by. With her consent.

"Heavens took pity on me and lead me to you… gave you you back to me, Sakura," He couldn't believe that after so many decades of fighting the orgy of being alone forever, Gods have decided to put an end to his solitude. "I finally found you, _my_ love." His voice was, for the first time, melancholic and abnormally suave, encompassing emotions that Sasuke thought has been lacerated from his chest.

Sasuke fought to abide to his morals and principles and respect her integrity, trust, and modesty, even if his body jittered to feel her present against him. He had to restrain himself and prove it that he was indeed superior -it was an arrogance that he submitted to, voluntarily.

Sakura came to him willingly to seek comfort and protection -and warmth- so he couldn't offer her anything more or less if her desires were swaying in that direction.

But he was also a vigorous young male, whose sensuous Vampire genes harbored lustful and carnal longings, especially when such a sublime angel was seeking nest into his bed, sleeping serenely beside him, with a hand curled around his wrist and the other wrapped around his waist, like assuring herself that he was still there, so consequently no one would come to harm her in any way.

He let his unhurried onyx eyes skim across the tenuous features of her sleeping form and the sudden impulse to collect her into his arms and hold her tight grew immensurable, and, as if he was connected to his thoughts around the clock, reading his mind, Sakura scooped even closer to him, until the crown of her head brushed under his chin, nuzzling her nose into the crook of his neck, breathing soundly and softly, blowing warmly upon his skin.

She was basically half lying atop of his chest.

A slender hand was claiming his slim waist, protectively, and tenderly, refraining from giving any sexual touch to her gesture. He followed the softness of her opaline luscious skin, and being trapped by the luminescence in her jade eyes, gracing and calming his soul in a suave flight of a white dove returning to peace and light.

Sakura looked like returning to a naturally pure and unadulterated love, emblazoned with the quintessence of nature's inner rhythm.

She was an infusion of melodies about innocence and she had the ability to conjure a man's internal impulse to protect her, as his half.

The self-preserving innate reflex of caressing her, trust her, possess her and ultimately, love her arouse into Sasuke`s chest.

She understood him, her heart was telling him the same story, she wasn't an unfortunate woman who was looking for the indomitable realm of death, it wasn't even herself the one that Sakura wanted to kill.

It was the loneliness. The inception of her sorrow was alienation and encouragement. She was the same as him. Two luthiers with a broken violin cursed to try and mend the strings together until they find the perfect tune.

Her virtuous feelings were transcending the abode of sorrow. Sakura was the child of the sun and the ray of light into his world. She would never know, but Sasuke was tired of being an atheist regarding the concept of felicity and love.

He wanted to feel how it was to beautify those simple moments in his life, how it was to watch as his happiness was mirroring unto his lady's eyes when he holds her hand when they kissed, when they laced their hands and when he loved her tenderly.

"It was destined for you to find me one day." His hand latched into her coral hair that was spread across his dark sheets, making her look like a metamorphosed swan traped into his world of sin, caressing her silk tresses dearly and adoring how she fit into his embrace.

"I will never permit you to leave my side." No matter what his father said and no matter how might oppose him, he will protect her with his life and beyond.

Sasuke knew that she was the reason for the Council of Vampires to summon, but he wouldn't permit anyone to take Sakura away from him, even though he was supposed to kill her right away.

His obsidian eyes that slowly turned claret wine, as his star-shaped fractal patterns of his Sharingan studied every lucent of light that fell against her ivory porcelain skin; she was so frail and seeking for protection, and yet so intelligent and so unbelievably stunning.

The only one who had the power to make the decision to stray from him was Sakura herself and no one else. As long as she wanted to stay with him, Sasuke will…

He fell asleep with her nuzzling into his chest and purring like a Cheshire cat and unbeknownst to him, she too was floating on the sweetest dreams for the first time in years.

Dreams of hope.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

One dizzy olive eye fluttered open to gaze around and seek for the source of the annoying noise. A deep yawn sprawled across _Kakashi`s_ lips as he has been aroused from his slumber in the middle of the night.

He scraped the back of his nape as he let his long legs dangle from the bed and slide on the carpet. Still half asleep, the silvery haired Principal of Konoha`s University let his sole visible eye peep for the switch of his lamp that was resting on his night stand, turning the light on.

Someone has sent him a fax in the middle of the night.

 _For the love of…_

Lazily he dragged his tall form to the beeping machine and tucked on the paper that was printed with whatever message it contained, skimming at the name of the sender. "Sasuke?" His right eye went a tad wider upon seeing the name and the signature of the one and only Uchiha Prince.

Because God… if Sasuke has sent him a message at such a late hour, it was most likely something of a tremendous importance that couldn't wait for tomorrow morning when he could casually traipse into his office –like he always did– and announce him of whatever news he had to share.

"Now what would this student of mine want from me now?" Kakashi let his gaze focus on the few lines that the Uchiha has forwarded to him, almost not noticing that there was a picture that has been sent to him, printed on the other side of the page.

"What the–" He actually had to drag his office chair and get down for a moment because his mind went dizzy upon processing what exactly was Sasuke letting him know.

But when he registered the last lines that the onyx eyed Vampire rebel has addressed to him, Kakashi felt like someone has turned the steady floor from under his feet, into a puddle of lava.

"This… this is impossible!" Quickly almost clumsily Kakashi flipped the page and gazed at the photo of the young woman who was flashing before his eyes in all her avant garde exotic beauty and the most avid fan of the _Icha Icha Paradise_ series actually cursed out loud.

It was Sasuke`s indication –more like _demand_ \- for him not to disclose the secret to anyone else for the moment and simply accept his request the thing that made Kakashi hold back and not storm to the phone and make a very important call.

"This is _huge_!" The middle aged man simply couldn't believe it what he has just found out. His hours or sleep were long forgotten, this was big news! "How did Sasuke learn something like this? It was supposed to be a secret… no one was to find out about it." At least no one from the Uchiha family was supposed to ever found out about that.

"Sasuke wants me to welcome a new student tomorrow, but this girl…"

He gazed to an old sepia photograph that was hanging on a side wall, sketching the silhouettes of a happy family and a newborn _baby_ girl with the most emerald eyes.

"This girl is…"

.

.

.

* * *

 **A/N: I wasn't expecting to finish this chapter so soon as I am being very busy this week, but here it is as I am done writing and posting it. Well… I haven't been too prolific in the last few weeks so I am guilty for that, gomen gomen, minna sama!**

 **I know what you guys think about: what a boring cheesy and filler chapter this was and you are right. This chapter was nowhere near eventful and Sasuke was actually TOO OOC here, I am aware of it.**

 **But I simply couldn't stop myself from writing something muuuuush and hopefully romantic between Sasuke and Sakura and also I wanted to emphasize the fact that Sasuke`s fiancé is a closed chapter in his life – or not? We`ll see.**

 **Anyways, if you felt like this was an useless, stale and completely cliché waste of your time and space, feel free to completely ignore it. Because starting from the next chapter, there is going to be action and secrets revealed and of course hotter moments between the characters.**

 **This story is still about Vampires, even if I am struggling to give it a more philosophic approach with all my –lame– attempts to define the concept of Immortality, Death and Eternity. You probably skipped those lines as well, but there is no problem. I always tend to blabber like… a LOT!**

 **I promise that the next update will contain fragments from the Council of Vampires and I WILL reveal Sakura`s true identity. You guys have guessed that there is some kind of connection to her and Sasuke and some of you got it right about her family tree, but this is only half of the mystery. I will clear everything up in the next chapter.**

 **I want to thank you all for the amazing feedback and support, you guys are amazing! You have no idea how happy you are making me as I want to repay you for this kindness and try to show it to you how much I appreciate everything you do!**

 **Many thanks to:**

 **hifi**

 **Guest**

 **Guest**

 **Guest**

 **chichivivas**

 **Guest**

 **Guest**

 **ElevatedJewel**

 **Guest**

 **LadyMartel4000**

 **Guest**

 **mannuj**

 **Guest**

 **Guest**

 **Guest**

 **Guest**

 **RalitsaR**

 **itsbritneybitch**

 **lovesasusakuforever**

 **ILoveSxS**

 **guest**

 **Guest**

 **Guest**

 **Guest**

 **Guest**

 **whenthesheepsaysbaa**

 **A Shadow Away**

For sharing your thoughts with me and taking from your precious time to let me know how you feel about this story. I am grateful and thankful for you all!

Also, I will try to respond to some of the questions briefly as I don't have so much time at my disposal but I don't want you guys to be under the impression that I don't read your reviews or that I only skim through the lines superficially and I don't care, because know this: I DO read every review and I digest every single word you write.

I am aware that some of the characters are OCC here, especially Sasuke. The reason why is that is because I want to write him from different points of views and try to bring different traits of his personalities in each of my stories. He is by far my favorite male character of the series so I am enjoying myself trying to write him in different contexts –sometimes rough and dangerous, and sometimes elegant and romantic. I am still pretty new to approaching the topic of Vampires and their mysterious world and I don't want to miss the element of refinement from their character, hence Sasuke is different here from his usual self or from the other stories of mine. I am well aware of it. But it doesn't mean that you won`t be seeing him fighting or lose his cool in this story from time to time.

It would have been a good opportunity to turn Sakura into a Vampire in this chapter and make her die for real but nah… I want her to stay human for now and have this build up connection between her and Sasuke so this will have to wait. I hope that Sasuke saving her in this chapter was not that cliché as I know it is and highly overused –him saving her again- but I wanted to make a parallel between the Manga when Sasuke has rescued Sakura several times in their genin days.

I see that Sasuke`s background story and how their gang was formed was welcomed and I am glad about that. Writing that flashback with the raping scene wasn't exactly something that I am proud of as it repulses me in terms of the concept, but I felt like it was necessarily for the build up of the plot. The woman that he rescued was Konan, Itachi`s fiancé. Have I failed to mention it, because as far as I remember I have disclosed that in the earlier chapters, hm?

About the lemons thing, don't worry there will be lemons as you guys know how much I enjoy writing hot scenes and oh God… this is a story of Vampires, so what other more appropriate set up could it be, than a story about Vampires? Yummy. What I meant in my preview A/N deals with the explicit scenes which I will try to censor as much as I can so it will still be very hot and sexy but remain in the rating. But no worries, I will post the link to another place where I will post it in case that I want to write a more detailed lemon.

You guys enjoy Ino and Sakura`s bonding time so far? ME TOO! Hehe, I adore the friendship between these two girls and I will keep it like this throughout the story. I am trying to make Ino as close to her character as possible, of course, adding a bit of my personal concept of her character. She is my favorite blabbermouth along with Naruto.

I hope that my version of the clans of vampires and the hierarchy isn't confusing. But if there is something that it stirs questions, do not hesitate to ask me. I know that this story is only at the beginning and there might be some things that don't make much sense. I will try to enlighten you as much as I can.

Regarding the length of this story, you know it that I only write long stories hehe. I am glad you guys like this, because it will stay like this.

I told you that some of you guys have correctly guessed about Sakura`s identity, so there is no way the stretch it more and that is the reason why I am going to disclose it in the next chapter. For now, I am still prolonging the… mystery. Plus I need a good cliffhanger, hehe.

The Sound and Orochimaru should suffer, those sick bastards! Well… we need some villains in this story and what better option for half-breeds there is, apart from a man who has wasted a good part of the series conducting sick experiments than Oro himself? Like _ElevatedJewel-san_ correctly depicted, the Sound brings the dark vibe into any context, but they are also interesting and intricate because their ambitions are twisted and they are geniuses. And their group pretty much know how to make things work! Like Madara or Obito.

Yes, a legitimate question since the Vampires are Immortal to ask for the reason why Sasuke is Fugaku`s heir, well first of all think about the pride of a royal family to have a boy being born in the family, as the next in line? A heir means a continuation of the family`s lineage; it represents the new generation, prosperity, health and ultimately power. It is exactly the same with my story since Vampires are having this penchant for nobility. Plus, they can be killed so what would happen if Fugaku gets killed? There is going to be havoc and fighting for the throne, so naturally he needs a heir. Plus, it is convenient for Sasuke`s ambitions to be his father`s successor.

All in all, I am grateful to all of you for reading this story, for all the exquisite reviews of this story and so precise in grasping the concepts that I am trying to bring to the light through every line, correctly interpreting and understanding what I am trying to convey and also, for being so amazing and kind!


End file.
